


The Double Shot

by 6_Binx_6



Series: The Daily Grind [2]
Category: American (US) Actor RPF, Original Work, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Airplane Sickness, Airports, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst, Anxiety, Clubbing, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Complete, Drinking, Drinking Games, Drunk Riddles, Drunk Texting, Embarrassment, F/M, Fist Fight, Fluff, Food, Head trauma, Humor, Jealousy, Love at First Sight, M/M, Meet-Cute, Motorcycles, Movie Sets, Moving On, Reconciliation, Romance, Smut, Surprises, Tourism, hit and run, night out, possible pregnancy, real places, remembering, traumatic event, wet dreams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-01-27 19:58:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 39,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12589428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/6_Binx_6/pseuds/6_Binx_6
Summary: A barista and her best friend take a leap of faith to follow their hearts. Can she finally settle her worries with the love of her life, Chris Pine? Or will she keep making the same mistakes? Why are her best friend and Zachary Quinto being so secretive? And how the hell did she end up as a movie extra!?





	1. The Leap

**Author's Note:**

  * For [diashann](https://archiveofourown.org/users/diashann/gifts), [34firecracker](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=34firecracker).



> This work is dedicated/gifted to diashann and 34firecracker. Thank you for your awesome comments and your continued support! You asked for a sequal, hopefully it doesn't disappoint.
> 
> I'll update tags as they come up.
> 
>   
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!

This was crazy.

Or more specifically, this had skipped passed crazy, bypassed ludicrous and had taken a direct flight to Insane-vilie.

Okay, even more to the point a direct flight to Los Angeles to meet up with Chris. Her boyfriend? Her man? Yes...her man. She really couldn't call hot, passionate sex a relationship could she? They hadn't really talked about what they were yet and she didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Fuck, what am I doing?" Del fidgeted restlessly as she sat waiting to board her plane. She honestly didn't know how the hell she was convinced to take this trip in the first place. The last two weeks had been a complete roller coaster and she had no idea how she made it out in tact.

" _Flight 146 is now accepting early boarding for those with passes and those flying first class._ " Announced a woman in an airport uniform behind the flight counter. She spoke into a small mic in front of her to speak over the loud speaker. Her voice was commanding, yet sweet and Del let out a small breath of relief.

Thank god she had managed to win the argument of her flying coach with Chris. She was a nervous wreck as it was and honestly boarding first probably would have had her running away in terror. It was a small miracle that she hadn't left the airport all together after the horrible time she had in security. Did they really have to search all her stuff like some criminal? She'd never flown before, but fucking hell, it was a bit much when they started to dig through her carry on in front of everyone. Seriously, all the clothes she owned fit in that bag, including her underwear damnit.

The real reason for her nervousness wasn't so much the flight, though that was part of it. Another part was seeing Chris again. The media storm that had basically blew up because of Zachary and Chris changing their return time to L.A. and postponing the movie production had caused quite a bit of hell. It also didn't help that people were shocked that Chris and her were dating...kind of. Again, she didn't want to get ahead of herself. The biggest part of her anxiety, was she was scared she might be pregnant and they hadn't talked about it. Her mother had been a single parent and she didn't want Chris to basically turn into her father, a DNA donor.

Del felt her chest tighten with worry and anxiousness, causing her to run her fingers through her short black pixy hair. Giving herself a mental shake, she cursed as she tried to focus on the trip at hand. Regardless of all that, she was excited to see him again. She was in love with him, though she still hadn't told him yet. He hadn't said it either, which had her even more fucking worried and nervous.

Del watched as a few people lined up to start boarding. It was a pretty short trip for the most part, flying from Reno to Los Angeles. Her best friend Stephen, who was dating Zachary, was already out in California. It had admittedly taken a lot of coaxing from Chris and finally a talking to by her boss to get her to go.

_"I can't go while Stephen is gone, this place is hard to run by yourself. It's no big deal if I wait a few weeks." Del said, trying to sound confident and upbeat as she wiped down the espresso machine after the mad rush of the morning._

_Chris had already left at the urging of his agent. He wanted Del to come with him, but she couldn't. Literally everything about it was scary as hell._

_Peter, her boss and the owner of the coffee shop, The Daily Grind, gave her a solid look. "I ran this place without help before I hired you two."_

_"Well, yes. I know that." Del said, biting her lip at his rough tone. Peter took a long sip from his coffee mug as he looked at her._

_"If you wait a few weeks you'll never go." He said as he set his cup down, "Don't make me fire you for two weeks."_

_Del blinked at his threat, "You'd fire me for two weeks to go to California?"_

_Peter gave her a raised brow and Del couldn't help but smile at him, "Is this because I've never taken a sick day?"_

_"No. It's because I don't want to see you mope around here anymore."_

The fact that he said it completely serious had Del almost in tears, he was good man if a bit hard.

" _We will now begin boarding sections A and B._ " Said the woman behind the flight counter on the loud speaker. Del looked at her boarding pass and swallowed hard. It was time.

Time to see Chris...

Time to tell him she loved him...

Time to tell him she might be pregnant...

Oh fuck...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited on 11/1/2017 - seriously there were a lot of errors. This should be a reminder to myself not to do any kind of writing on three hours of sleep.


	2. Bitches & Phones

It had been a while since Del had had a cell phone. Well, it wasn't a NEW cell phone or even a smart phone. Del had used all the money she had saved for her kitchen table to put towards a simple flip phone that could be reloaded with minutes; as well as a simple linguine set that Stephen made her get. She had made him promise not to tell Chris about the phone as she wanted it to be a surprise when she landed and texted him that she was in L.A. He had sworn he wouldn't, and so far he had kept his promise. Their fight a few weeks ago had been a shitty one as far as Del was concerned and it was totally her fault. She had done her best to apologize and Stephen; being the sweet, caring, diva queen that he was, forgave another one of her socially awkward blunders. Or in this case, her sniffling, teary eyed, shitty apology.

Del's phone buzzed in her jean pocket the second after she took her seat, a nice little window seat towards the front of the plane. It was weird being packed in like sardines, but Stephen had warned her it was going to be like this. It didn't help that her nerves were so on edge with being so close to the woman next to her, who had WAY too much perfume on. Del wrinkled her nose slightly, trying to keep from sneezing as she pulled out her phone and flipped it open. Stephen's text appeared as little envelope on her screen and she clicked the arrow buttons to select it.

Queenie: **U on the plane yet?**

_**Yes.** _

Quennie: **Nervous?**

_**...**_

Queenie: **Horny?**

_**Stephen!**_

Queenie: **RAOTFLMFAO!!!**

_**You're an asshole.**_

Queenie: **No, I'm a BITCH. ;-P**

_**Whatever...**_

Queenie: **But I'm UR bitch**.

_**HA! Tell that to your man.**_

Queenie: **Asshole. :-P**

_**Yes, yes I am. But I'm YOUR asshole.**_

Queenie: **See you soon. XOXOX**

_**:-)**_

Del couldn't help but grin. Stephen always did have a way of making her laugh, even when she really didn't want to. It seemed to ease something in her chest and Del felt her shoulders relax a little. She closed the phone and stuffed it back in her pocket and busied herself with getting her seat belt on.

This was going to be okay. She was going to be okay. Chris wasn't the type of guy to leave a possibly pregnant woman who he wasn't actually dating... Del groaned inwardly, no more internal pep talks. They just made her anxiety kick into over drive. She was going to sit on this plane, look out the window and enjoy her first time flying. Stephen had given her a heads up about all the safety stuff, being as she had a secret fear of dying in a blazing ball of fire shaped like an airplane.

The woman next to her shifted a little, sending a wave of heavy perfume towards Del's nose, causing her to sneeze loudly. Del blushed a little as a man, with soft blue eyes and full lips about her age; sitting on the other side of the woman, grinned at her. Del did not sneeze like a church mouse. she never had. It was more like something that broke the sound barrier - even if she did cover her nose with her hand. The woman with the heavy perfume gave Del a nasty look, she must have been in her late fifties. Her hair was grey short and sprayed heavily with hair spray to the point where a stiff wind wouldn't have moved it. Del chuckled to herself, as her mother would have referred to it as 'helmet hair'.

"Excuse me." Del said politely, the woman snorting and opening the small paperback book in her hand to a previously marked page. Del blinked and tried not to let it bother her, the woman was obviously a pill. The man on the other side of the woman gave Del a small smile and shrugged, seemingly saying 'Oh well, you tried.' Del shrugged back and attempted to get as comfortable as she could.

The problem was it was a pain in the ass, literally. Airplane seats were not made for women with big asses and decently long legs. They were made for women with no hips, flat asses and short little legs. It was a good thing the flight was pretty short because if she had to fly like this for more than a few hours, she'd die from being cramped. Maybe the woman next to her was being a pill because these seats sucked so bad.

Del glanced over at the woman in question, who was pointedly ignoring her. Shaking her head, Del caught sight of the man on the other end looking at her. His dark hair was short and he was sporting a five o'clock shadow, making his sharp jaw line even more pronounced. He was pretty good looking if she were honest and a little familiar looking too.

He smirked at her and Del blinked, unable to hide the blush that was creeping up. She had caught him looking at her damnit, not the other way around, why the hell was she embarrassed?

A sudden jolt had Del snap her attention away from him and to the speaker over head as a man began to speak.

"Good Morning ladies and gentlemen. My name is Captain Edwards and my Co-Pilot today is Martin Hienz. If you would kindly look towards our flight attendants while we go over the safety features of this air bus, we'll be rolling out here in just a few minutes." The voice was smooth and comforting, but Del was gripping the arm rest with everything she had. The movement of the plane had made Del's stomach tighten and do a sickening churning motion.

Del didn't really pay attention too much to the flight attendants doing the safety demonstration, in steady she had closed her eyes and tried to breath slowly. She didn't think she would have a fear of flying, and maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was because every second was getting her closer to Los Angeles, closer to Chris and closer to the potentially devastating news.

The woman next to Del shifted again and the perfume tickled her nose once more. This time it made her stomach even more unhappy and Del found herself pressing her head against the cool glass of the window. The airplane turned onto the runway and the speaker came on over head again, asking the flight attendants to take their seats. Del swallowed hard and tried her best to brace herself.

The roar of the engine was loud and Del felt the plane seemingly shift forward until it started to speed up. Del made the mistake of looking out the window just as the plane tilted to gain enough lift under its wings. Del felt her stomach drop somewhere through the plane and to the ground below as she was stuck back in her seat. A cold sweat had broken out and Del was saying every secret mantra she had in her brain to not loose her breakfast.

Not that it had been much in the first place...

Finally, the plane leveled out and Del stopped feeling like she was going to blow chunks all over the place. Though with the woman's heavy ass perfume next to her, she was starting to get a headache. After the seat belt sign went off, Del was never so fucking glad that the woman got up to go to the bathroom.

Del took a small breath of non-perfumed air and let it out slowly, "Finally." she whispered.

"Yeah, she definitely has a hot date or something. No woman in their right mind would wear that much perfume for no reason."

Del opened her eyes to look over at the man who had spoken, it was the man who was at the other end of their little row, sitting next to the same woman. Del chuckled and nodded, wiping her brow with the back of her hand. When she didn't say anything, the man looked at her curiously.

"You okay?"

"Uh, y-yeah. I just have never flown before, so it's a bit scary. I was afraid I was going to barf there for a moment." Del offered up an embarrassed smile. If she was honest, she still didn't feel the best. Throwing up was still a possibility.

"Your first time flying huh?"

"Yeah." Del nodded and swallowed again, trying not to look out her window. Why the fuck did she get a window seat again?

Oh...

Because Stephen said that she should....

Goddamnit...

The man grinned at her, showing perfect white teeth as he actually stood and sat down in the seat next to Del that the woman had been sitting in. Del raised a brow at him and leaned her head back.

"I don't think that woman's going to like you taking her spot." Del said, a little breathy.

"Probably not, but I don't think she'll want to sit next to you when she gets back."

Del turned her head a little bit to fast to look at him as he spoke, she had wanted to say that was kind of a rude thing to say. She had wanted to say that she wasn't the one being a bitch on a cramp packed airplane.

But, sadly those things didn't come out.

Instead, Del felt her stomach betray her brain and she was suddenly scrambling to get the empty 'sanitary' bag out of the chair pocket in front of her. Without a word, the man had the bag opened and up to her face just in time. He patted her back and rubbed it lightly, whispering soft calming things to her that she wasn't really paying attention too.

Just great, first plane flight ever to see the man she was in love with, and she was throwing up all the way to her shoes into a small bag with some other cute guy trying to comfort her. What a fucking disaster. When Del finally was able to stop dry heaving, the man closed the bag and sealed it. He handed it off to a flight attendant who was magically standing by with a cool wash cloth. He folded it up and laid it across her fore head as she groaned little.

"Sorry..." Her voices sounded hoarse and the man gave her a cheeky grin.

"No problem. My name's Sebastian by the way."

"Delany, but I go by Del. Thanks for coming to my rescue."

Sebastian grinned, "Ah well, I wasn't about to let a pretty lady suffer."

Del chuckled, "Thanks I guess."

The woman with the heavy perfume came back, looking somewhat pissed at seeing Sebastian in her seat. "Excuse me," she said snottily, "you're in my seat."

Sebastian smiled an apology at her, "I'm so sorry, it's just that my girlfriend here is a little air sick. Would you mind if I sat with her for the rest of the flight?"

The woman wrinkled her nose as if she could smell the sour vomit in the air, "Disgusting." She turned and promptly walked off to find a flight attendant.

Del chuckled lightly and shook her head, "Just to be sure, you realize I'm not your girlfriend right?"

"Of course." He looked completely innocent and it made Del laugh, Sebastian giving her a soft smile.


	3. Landed

The flight was short and Sebastian made it shorter by joking and taking with Del. Her flight sickness was gone for the moment and so was the lady with the heavy perfume. Del relaxed into casual conversation with him and found that while he was cute, he was also very intelligent. He reminded her of Chris in that way. He was a welcomed distraction from the fear of flying and her serious upcoming talk with Chris. She hadn't even told Stephen she might be pregnant. It was sadly to early to take a test yet, and Del didn't have enough money for a doctor. She fretted if she should even say anything at all on this trip or just wait till she got home.

Fucking Christ, this was a mess.

Towards the end of the flight Del's anxiety kicked in again as the captain came on the overhead speaker with another announcement.

"Alright folks, we will be landing in LAX in the next fifteen minutes or so. I'd like to thank each of you for flying with us today and hope that you enjoy your time here in California."

Del looked briefly out the window, still not able to see very much which was probably a good thing. The take off had been hell, hopefully the landing would be better.

Sebastian seemed to pick up on her thoughts and gave her a reassuring smile, "Landing is nothing compared to taking off. Landing is more like a roller coaster. It can be a bit bumpy but it's considerably better."

Del chuckled and ran her fingers through her short hair, "Yeah well, if I feel the need to dry heave, I'm gonna need a spotter again."

Sebastian laughed, "Sure. I don't mind."

Del smiled and took a small breath as they started to descend. She wasn't seeing Chris right away anyway, so she could relax for a little while. Stephen was going to pick her up and show her around L.A. and then they were going to meet up with Chris and Zach later. She was here for two weeks, which was plenty of time to have a serious talk with Chris and hopefully, finally tell him that she loved him. Del bit her lip unconsciously and Sebastian chuckled.

"You look nervous again."

"Oh, y-yeah. I just have a lot on my mind. I swear I'm not going to throw up right now or anything." She gave him a soft smile and he returned it, his pale blue eyes light and soft.

"Well nothing helps that like telling a complete stranger. Though I don't know if you can still call me that after I held out a bag for you to get sick in." He gave her a toothy grin and Del laughed, a little louder than she intended and blushed slightly.

"Touché." She swallowed and then thought about it for a moment, as long as she didn't mention any names she was sure she'd be fine. That and her 'little' problem.

"Well I'm going to California to meet my..." Del blushed a little, "Boyfriend."

"And?"

"I uh, god this is embarrassing." Del laughed a little and rubbed her face with her hands. "I'm going to tell him I love him. Or try too. The problem is we haven't known each other very long at all. Like a few weeks, and I um, I'm not sure if we are dating or not."

Sebastian raised a brow, "You don't know if you're dating him and you love him?"

"It's complicated." Del said, biting her lip, "And confusing as fuck."

Sebastian chuckled and Del suddenly gripped her arm rest as she felt the plane start to decent.

"Well, do you think he loves you too?"

Del blinked as she looked at him, her attention suddenly on his words. She hadn't really thought too hard about it. She was more wrapped up in what she was going to say.

"I...don't know."

Sebastian gave her a soft smile, "When you're with him, how does it feel?"

Del frowned, her brain distantly registering the fact that the plane was really descending now. "It feels...like I found a missing part of myself." She whispered, slightly unfocused on the chair in front of her. It was strange, it always felt like that with Chris. If she really thought about it, from the first time she saw him at the shop and she handed him his coffee.

Del blushed slightly, she didn't believe in fairy tail endings where the prince sweeps in and saves the poor girl from her troubles. But Chris had technically been a prince in movies, which counted, maybe?

Suddenly Del came back to herself as the wheels from the plane hit the runway and the plane jolted slightly. Looking out the window she laughed in surprise and looked at Sebastian, a mixture of relief and shock on her face.

"We landed!"

Sebastian laughed at her reaction, "I'm pretty good at this distraction thing."

Del grinned, "Yes, you are."

The two fell silent as the plane turned off the runway to the gate. People started shuffling around and as soon as the plane was stopped; a few moments later the seat belt sign went off. People instantly started moving and Del felt her nerves ratchet up a notch, there was still hours before she'd see Chris. She really needed to calm down.

Sebastian stood and grabbed his carry on out of the over head bin and Del took of her seat belt, standing as well. Her ass was seriously sore and her legs felt wobbly from the cramped space. He smiled at her and pulled her small duffel bag down and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She said, taking the bag.

Sebastian nodded, "Anytime. Well, good luck with your 'kind of' boyfriend. I must say though, if it doesn't work out, we could always date."

Del blinked, her brain suddenly stalling. He wasn't serious, was he? After a moment he laughed and winked at her, "Just kidding. It was nice meeting you Del."

Del finally managed to get her mouth moving, though her voice came out kind of squeaky when she spoke, "O-oh." She laughed a little, "Yeah, it was nice meeting you too."

He gave her a brilliant smile and started walking down the aisle with the rest of the crowd. It was weird, when he smiled he reminded her of someone she'd sheen somewhere before, but she just couldn't place him. Del waited a bit, trying to get her heart to calm down. For a moment there, the way he said it sounded completely serious. Jesus, he really had her going there for a moment.

Managing to shrug it off, Del finally made her way off the plane with her duffel bag. Digging into her pocket for her phone, she flipped it open and typed a quick message to Stephen.

**_Hey, I'm here and I'm off the plane._ **

Queenie: **Already here. Come to baggage claim.**

**_K_ **

The LAX airport was confusing as all hell and it took Del through two security check points and on the wrong side of the air port, away from baggage claim. Del couldn't seem to find anyone to help her to save her life, until a nice woman dressed in a blue pants suit directed her in the right direction. Finally, she managed to find the baggage claim area after another wrong turn that lead her to a series of small stores and shops.

It wasn't hard to spot her best friend, who was wearing a bright pink shirt that said 'Support Bad Girls' in black lettering on the front and kaki shorts. Del laughed as she approached him, making him grin.

"Seriously? Zach lets you get away with wearing that?"

"What? It's a nice shirt." Stephen said, pouting playfully as he hugged her close. Del hugged him back and grinned. She had missed him, even though it had been a week without him around.

"How'd the flight go?" He asked and Del gave him an eye roll.

"Not well in the beginning, I got sick on the plane. But this guy in my row was really nice and helped keep me from freaking out."

Stephen gave her a curious look, "You got sick in the plane?"

Del frowned, "Yeah, seems my fear of flying is legit." She secretly prayed that's all it had been.

Stephen frowned, "Aw, I'm sorry sweetie. Come on!" He said suddenly excited, "I've got a surprise for you! But...you are not allowed to run away or freak out."

Del groaned as they started walking towards the exit, "Okay, now I'm scared. You didn't commit me to an orgy or like some kind of weird cult thing did you?"

Stephen paused waking, his face pensive, "Well shit, can't pull the wool over your eyes now can I?"

"What?" Del said, her voice sounding shocked and Stephen laughed openly.

"God I missed your surprised face. Come on sweet cheeks, we've got a schedule to keep." He wrapped his long arm around her and walked her to the nearby parking garage.

Del's mind was running a mile a minute, what did he mean they had a schedule to keep? Stephen's surprises were never good, at least never in the way she expected them to be. Something told her this was going to be high ranking on her list of 'shit things Stephen has done to freak me out' list.

Sadly, that list grew bigger every year...

 


	4. Surprise?

"You did WHAT!?"

Del was practically screaming in the front seat as Stephen cringed slightly.

"It's not that bad! All we are doing is what we do everyday." He said, sounding slightly put out and Del huffed as she crossed her arms.

"Is this pay back for something?! Stephen, I cannot, WILL NOT, be in a movie!"

Stephen snorted, "You probably won't even show up on the camera. We are in the back pretending to be coffee shop baristas—which we _are_ by the way. The actress that was doing it before burnt herself pretty badly on the espresso machine and couldn't do the scene anymore."

He sounded like this was a _normal_ situation and Del rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up from this nightmare.

"And it just happens to be a scene in Chris and Zach's movie?" She said in disbelief, giving him a glare as he drove down the busy city road.

"Well it helped a little that they vouched for us. The rest of the crew was into it too."

Del gave him a pointed look and he caved, "Okay, it helped a lot, alright? But seriously, this could be good for both of us." Stephen said.

"How? How is this good for us?"

"Well, we'll get some extra money while we're here and it will be great exposure for the shop."

Del frowned, "Peter isn't going to like that."

"Peter said he was fine with it." He shrugged and Del's mouth dropped open.

"What?!" Her voice was high pitched and Stephen gave her a cat ate the canary look.

Oh. My. God.

What the fuck was Stephen thinking? What the hell were Chris and Zach thinking?! She couldn't act to save her life. She did drama one year in high school and ended up being the spot light girl because her acting was terrible. Stephen on the other hand got the lead role while high as a kite. Jesus Christ.

Del crossed her arms and decided to look out the window, ignoring Stephen as he drove. She was pissed, of course Stephen would do something crazy like this. What if she fucked it up? What if Chris saw her fuck up? Oh god, what if the press got wind of it? And what about the other pressing shit?! Like possible motherhood?

* * *

The forty-five minute drive to Hollywood was packed full of cars and Del's mind was blown with how many there were. It was kind of a trip seeing places she'd seen only in the movies and it wasn't long before they pulled up to a massive gate, the word 'Paramount' in big blue script with their famous mountain logo. Del felt her stomach tighten as Stephen pulled up to the security booth.

The man in a security uniform looked at Stephen, Del and then at the sporty car Stephen picked her up in. She had a sneaking suspicion it was Zach's car.

"Name?" The man said, sounding somewhat calloused.

"Stephen Bradley." Stephen said, sounding completely normal. Del was silently cursing him to the seventh depths of hell.

The man looked over a clip board in his hand and nodded, "Alright." He pulled a security placard out from the back of the clipboard and handed it to Stephen. "You're in studio B17. That's straight down and two rows to the left. You'll see it on the right."

The security man didn't wait for a response and hit a little button inside his both, causing the gate to pull back and allow them entrance. Del scooted down in her seat a little, trying to ignore the mixture of anger and excitement. It was exciting to be on a real studio set. It was exciting to see Chris again. But damnit, why did Stephen have to do this shit?

Stephen glanced at Del and smiled, "Come on Del, try to cheer up. Remember you promised no running and no freak outs."

"I never promised that." Del said, irritated.

"True, but you wouldn't want me to hog tie you and drag you in there with your man watching would you?" Stephen snickered as Del gave him an evil look. She crossed her arms and watched the large warehouse type buildings pass by. It wasn't long before she realized the people who were walking weren't just crew members of various films being made. She was sure she'd seen at least a few famous people. Though she couldn't place their names.

Seriously, if Stephen teased her about her lack of pop culture knowledge one more time she was going to punch him right in the shoulder.

Stephen drove carefully down the rows, until taking a left and heading further into the large property. By the time they got there Del was so interested in the costumes and people she'd seen walking with props she half forgot her anger. Stephen grinned as they parked and he poked her side, making her jump and squeek.

Del glared at him and he laughed, "Come on sweet cheeks, time for your close up."

Del groaned and rubbed her forehead, "I'm going to murder you Stephen, very...very slowly."

Stephen looked appalled for a moment, "If you must. Just don't get any on my shoes okay?" He looked at her completely serious and Del laughed, unable to stay mad. He gave her a wickedly sexy smile and got out. Del followed behind him, leaving her bag in the car as she followed him.

They made their way inside the large studio and Del found herself pausing just inside the massive space. If she though the film shoot in Reno was crazy, this was even more so. There was equipment everywhere, people shuffling and moving—and a ton of props. Everything seemed to be in their own little sections and Del watched as the controlled chaos ensued.

Stephen stopped and grinned at her, just as a familiar face popped up out of nowhere.

"There you guys are!"

Del jumped, slightly startled as she blinked. It took her a moment but she recognized her. It was the sandy haired, petite woman who had first come to their shop asking them to make coffee for the movie crew. Katie, she thought her name was.

Stephen grinned and gave Katie a small hug as she turned to Del. "How was your flight?"

She was still sporting the head set and clipboard she had first met her in and Del smiled, her nerves making her fidget.

"I got a little sick on the plane. I've discovered I don't like flying."

Katie grinned and nodded, "Well, when you've flown as much as the rest of us have you get used to it. You guys ready?"

Del tried to smile, but it didn't quiet reach her eyes, this was fucking crazy. Stephen grinned and threw his arm around Del, "Absolutely!"

"Great! Let's get you guys in makeup and costume and I'll let everyone know you're hear." With that she turned and started speaking into her headset and Stephen pulled her along. Del secretly wished that this was all just a joke, but the more it went on the longer it appeared that wasn't the case.

Fucking shit...

The next bit of time was lost to Del as she was practically shoved into a small room with a woman and a man who hand her dressed in a barista uniform, a green button up shirt and black slacks. A moment later she was kicked out and shoved into another room with a woman with the biggest makeup kit she'd ever seen. She listened as the woman chatted with her about how 'great' her olive skin was and Del sheepishly explained that her dark features came from her mother.

The woman styled Del's hair into a spiked back and used a curling iron in her bangs to really make her look professional. Del blinked as she watched herself in the mirror go from the face she was used to, to someone who looked confident and beautiful...

Though that confidence was kind of ruined because of Del's startled eyes.

Once she was out of the room, Stephen was waiting for her. A grin slowly spread over his face as he walked around her, dressed in the same uniform as her. His hair was styled, giving his face a mature look and Del frowned.

"Well, if you're going to meet the love of your life after a few weeks this is probably the best way to do it. You look hot." He wiggled his eye brows and Del groaned.

"I feel like an idiot."

Stephen laughed and pushed Del deeper into the studio. "That's part of your charm."

Del snorted as they briskly walked, snaking their way through the constantly moving people. It wasn't until they approached a stage area that looked like a rather expensive coffee shop and Del thought she might throw up again. Or at least that was until she spotted Chris and Zach sitting down at a table and talking. Stephen whispered a small 'shhh' in her ear and Del realized they were filming. The space was extremely quiet, but Del wasn't paying attention to what either man was saying.

She swallowed hard. Chris was dressed in what looked to be a rather expensive black suit and so was Zach. Both men looked delicious, but Del only had eyes for Chris. His hair was combed back, exposing his face and crystal eyes. The touch of grey in his five o'clock shadow and the look on his face made him look dangerous; making Del's insides turn to jelly.

"CUT!" The director yelled from nearby, and suddenly the quietness erupted into people moving and things being shifted around.

"RESET!" Someone else shouted and Del found herself watching as Chris looked over to spot her and Stephen standing just off camera. He grinned at her and Del gave a small wave, biting her lip.

Was this okay? She was seriously sure that it wasn't, but a moment later she was staring as Chris and Zach walked towards them. Del felt her stomach tighten as they came closer. Zach gave her a quick smirk as Chris came right up to her and slipped his arm around her waist to pull her into a kiss.

Del felt her eyes instantly drop as the feel of his lips met hers and Del felt something in her stomach loosen. Chris chuckled into the kiss as she kissed him back.

Oh yeah...

She had it bad...

Really...

Really....

Bad...


	5. Just Breathe

"Hey." Chris said as their kiss ended. It hadn't lasted long, but Del was feeling a little lightheaded. She swallowed a little, unable to stop the blush that had crept up her cheeks.

"Hi." She said, her voice sounded a breathy and she laughed a little.

"Man, you guys are too cute!" Stephen teased and Del groaned.

"You're not helping Queenie."

Stephen grinned and gave Zach a quick kiss on the cheek, causing Zach to smirk as he looked at Del, "So, ready for your big movie debut?"

"Zachary, come on. Don't freak her out." Chris said, laughing a little and drawing Del's attention to him. "Sorry about the suddenness of everything. We were kind of in a jam on such short notice."

Dell swallowed, her brain scrambled with an entire truck load of things she wanted to say. She managed to offer up a shaky reply, "Sure, I...don't know how well I'll do. Hopefully I don't have to—."

Del's word were cut off as an older man in jeans and a t-shirt with a penguin on it interrupted her. His head was covered with a backwards ball cap, his face covered in laugh lines that surrounded chocolate colored eyes.

"I see our 'coffee champions' have arrived. I'm sorry, I didn't get to meet you at Chris's party in Tahoe. My name is Dennis Banner, I'm the director." He offered Del his hand and she took it, shaking his hand firmly like Peter had taught her years ago when she first started working for him.

" _Be firm yet flexible. If your handshake isn't confident, you'll never be. People will also size you up based on your handshake. Even if you feel like you're gonna puke, shake hands like a professional."_

It was honestly the most Peter had ever said to her in one sitting. The lesson stuck, now hard wired into her brain when dealing with professional people. He was right though, no matter how good her handshake was, she still wanted to run away from the situation.

Chris seemed to sense Del's tenseness and stood a little closer to her, just so she could feel he was there. It was reassuring and she felt her shoulders relax a little.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Delany Morris, you can just call me Del."

Dennis grinned at her, all those laugh lines coming alive as he looked her over. "Nice to meet you too Del. Now I'm sure Stephen told you what you're going to be doing?"

"Uh, he said we are just being coffee baristas." Del gave Stephen a quick glare.

Stephen chuckled and slipped his arms through Zach's, the two looked really good together. She'd have to tell him later when she wasn't so pissed at him.

Dennis laughed and nodded, "Yes, there's only a few lines. I'm sure you can nail it."

"READY!" Someone shouted from the back of the room. Del had a look of horror on her face as Dennis, The Director, walked away calling back with a loud okay. Del turned to Chris, her eyes way to big and he grinned at her.

"Lines?! No one said anything about lines!"

"Shhh, you're going to do great. Just imagine you're back home, doing what you do best." He gave her a reassuring smile as he squeezed her hands. Del looked into his calm eyes and let out a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"There you go. Just remember to breathe, you'll do great." He gave her a warm smile and a soft kiss on the cheek that made Del's heart race.

"What if I don't?" Del said, sounding freaked out. She couldn't help it, this was scary as hell. No one said she'd have to speak. Goddamnit, she was going to kill Stephen when this was all over.

Chris gave her a sexy, but goofy grin, "Well, if you don't do a good job I can always give you some private lessons."

Del laughed, way to loud and full bodied, the fact that there was a tone of seriousness in it just made it funnier and she covered her mouth with her hands. It felt good to laugh, relieving some of the tension.

"I'll hold you to that." She kissed him, loving his soft lips.

"Alright love birds, time to get into position." Zach spoke up, kissing Stephen's cheek and whispering something to him that made his face turn slightly pink.

"Speak for your self." Chris grinned, "Good luck."

And with that the two men walked away to take their positions at the table once again. Del turned and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at Stephen with a raised brow.

"Lines?" She said, irritated.

Stephen shrugged and grinned, "Hey, a little half truth never hurt anyone. Come on sweet cheeks, let's get going!"

He laced her arm in his and dragged her off to the other side of the set where Katie was waiting with a couple of sheets of paper. She grinned as she handed one to each of them and pointed to a very nice, expensive coffee counter.

"Good luck you two!" She said cheerfully and Del swore right then and there, she was going to pay Stephen back somehow.

Right after her hands stop shaking...

But before she puked on the pricey looking espresso machine...

"MARK!" Someone called as she took her position behind the counter, Stephen behind the till where he usually was. Del glanced down and quickly read the paper, eyes growing wider as she read. There was no way...

"Take 187!" Someone called again and Del snapped her head to look at Stephen.

He gave her a charming smile and whispered, "Just breathe..."

"I'm going to murder you, Stephen Bradley..." She whispered back harshly.

He grinned and a second later she heard Dennis yell from somewhere behind the camera.

"ACTION!"


	6. Hit Men & Coffee

The staged coffee shop came alive and Del was hyper aware of the cameras rolling off to her left. Stephen looked completely relaxed as he took a coffee order from a woman standing at the counter. Del tried to focus on what she was going to do. Her lines were simple enough, but it was the last part that was making her legs feel like jello.

"Double Shot with extra cream!" Stephen said cheerfully as he handed Del the small ticket with the order on it. Del stared at him blankly for a moment and then something in her brain clicked.

Work.

This was like work.

Okay, she could do this if she just pretended this was work.

Del smiled her usual work smile and Stephen gave her a grin as she grabbed a cup and started working on the woman's double shot. Stephen took the next order and slid it over. Del found that the espresso machine was different than the one back home. It was easier, and a little touchy on the handle but smooth none the less. By the time she got the fifth ticket she was laughing and zipping through orders like no ones business.

The people who picked up there orders had genuine smiles on their faces as she called out the names scrawled on the tickets. One guy even gave her a wink and she grinned at him as she kept working.

"Next up, one Hammerhead and a Triple Shot Breve!" Stephen called as he passed the ticket. Del instantly started working, the breve was easy and the Hammerhead sounded more complicated that it was. Del had them ready in no time, using the steamed milk for the breve to make a simple galaxy swirl.

"Tyler and James! You're up!" Del held out the two cups, which were to go orders and blinked slightly as she realized Chris and Zach were standing in front of her. Del stared as they both took their cups carefully, Chris's fingers brushing her's softly as he smirked at her. It wasn't his usual one, this one was a littler darker and screamed dangerous.

Fuck, she was supposed to say something. Shit, what was it?!

Del opened her mouth, the stupid line leaving her brain as his crystal blue eyes locked with hers.

Shit, shit, shit.

"H-have a nice day." Del's voice was shaky. Inside she was cursing, she knew that wasn't the right damn line. She felt her face turn a little pale as Zach gave her a cool, leveled look. Somehow he looked scarier than Chris. She didn't know if he was acting or if the look was genuine.

Oh god...

Chris's smirk got a little wider and Del tensed, taking a timid step back. She knew it was Chris in her heart, but her brain was screaming that she needed to get the hell away before something bad happened. Just as Zach reached into his blazer, to pull something out of it Del sucked in a breath. Cold sweat broke out and she edged away from them.

"CUT!" Dennis yelled and suddenly it was just Chris and Zach standing on the other side of the counter. Chris gave her a warm smile, his eyes kind as the sound shifted from normal coffee shop sounds to a mass of people moving.

"Uh..." Del breathed out, her shoulders were still tense and Zach gave her a wicked smirk.

"Not bad."

Del stared at him for a moment before Chris spoke up, "You okay?" He sounded a little unsure as he spoke, the look on her face probably wasn't a good one.

Before she could open her mouth, Dennis was suddenly there laughing as Stephen said something she didn't catch.

"I gotta say, that was great! For a moment I forgot we were shooting! You have any idea how long it's been since I felt like that?" Dennis clamped a hand down on Stephen's shoulder as he beamed. Del had to take a few deep breaths and managed to smile, though secretly she was thinking how she could get away with murder in front of all these people.

Surely someone would notice if she strangled a six foot on tall blonde just off camera.

"You did great Del, I think we actually got it all in one take. Practically unheard of! You sure she's never acted before?" He said to Stephen, who grinned.

"Nope, she was the spot light girl in drama for one semester."

Del groaned as Chris stepped behind the counter, close enough so she could feel him there. "You did great." He smiled at her and Del gave him a raised brow.

"Uh huh, I looked like an idiot. I forgot my line and you and Zach scared the crap out of me."

Zach chuckled, "We're hit men. We're supposed to be scary." He pulled back the edge of his blazer showing a gun in a shoulder holster. It looked so real Del took a slight step back.

"Don't worry Del, it's a prop gun." Dennis said, sounding reassuring.

"Okay." She frowned and looked at Dennis, "I'm sorry I messed up the line. I can try again if you want. I was just a little taken off guard."

Dennis grinned and shook his head, "Hell no. Your reaction spoke louder than words ever could. Anyone worth their salt in this industry will tell you genuine reactions are always the best."

He grinned at Chris and Zach, "Alright, we're going to get ready for the next sequence." They both nodded and Del frowned.

"Uh, sorry, but I thought there was more." Reaching into her apron pocket to pull out the piece of paper Katie had handed her, she unfolded it and showed Dennis as she pointed to the line at the bottom.

Dennis grinned, "Don't worry, we'll use a stunt woman for that part. I don't think you really want to get shot do you?"

Stephen gave her a wicked grin from next to Dennis and Del practically yelled, "No! No, I'm good!"

All of them looked slightly startled and she felt her face turn beat red all the way to her ears as Chris and her both started laughing. Dennis gave her a warm smile.

"Alright, stunt double it is then."

Del glared at Stephen, daring him to say something but he merely grinned. "Hey, I know your limits. You don't have to glare at me."

"Oh yes I do. Consider this your warning. I'm going to make you suffer." Del narrowed her eyes threateningly and Dennis laughed loudly.

"I love this girl! Alright everyone, NEXT!" Dennis walked away as they got ready for the next sequence. As someone echoed back, "NEXT!"

People started shifting and moving again and Chris gave Del a kiss on the cheek. His smile was warm and he slipped his arm around Del's waist, making her breath catch slightly.

"We'll try to get done as quick as we can. Are you going to stay for a little bit and watch?"

Del chuckled, "Nah, I think Stephen and I will pack it in. I'm kind of at my limit of excitement today."

Chris smirked and kissed her lips gently, "Okay then, I'll see you tonight."

Del felt her shoulders finally relax as he kissed her and felt her face turn red again, "Okay." There was that overwhelming feeling again that rose up when she looked at him. God why couldn't she just say it?

"I..." Del swallowed hard as Chris looked at her curiously, waiting.

"I-I'll see you tonight." She amended and Chris grinned at her before walking away to get into position. Zach gave her a curious look as well and she crossed her arms over her chest, "What?"

Zach grinned a devilish smile at her that clearly stated he knew exactly 'what'. Stephen jumped in throwing his arm around Del's shoulders, making her stumble slightly.

"You're not making eyes at my man are you?" He said cheekily and Del elbowed him in the stomach. Stephen let out a half cough, half wince.

"Jesus you're rough."

"Only to you Queenie." Del said, batting her lashes at Stephen.

Zach chuckled and shook his head, "You guys are weird."

Without missing a beat Stephen slipped away from Del and slid up to Zach. The motion was very smooth and Del laughed as Zach looked slightly startled.

"But I'm you're weirdo, so it's totally okay." Stephen said, letting his voice drop a little lower and Del stared wide eyed as Zach's surprise was replaced with a small smirk and a glint in his eye.

Man, if her and Chris looked anything like that...

Stephen let out a surprised sound, pulling Del from her train of thought. Stephen rubbed his left butt cheek as his face slowly turned red. "Hey." He said simply and Zach chuckled.

"We're behind the counter, relax." Zach motioned to the counter and Stephen swallowed, clearly hot and bothered. It was cute seeing them rattle each other. Del giggled, unable to stop herself. Despite her own issues, fears and anxiety...

She really hoped Stephen and Zach would work out.

Del frowned suddenly, the excitement of the day wearing off and her brain deciding right then to kick into over time. She really needed to have a serious talk with Chris, but before that she needed a super market...

And a small plastic applicator to pee on...

She also needed to grow a pair and tell Chris she loved him before all that.

Nothing was ever simple.


	7. Guide to Tourism 101

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, leaving kudos and commenting! They are always appreciated, you guys are awesome. ^_^

After they changed out of their costumes, Stephen and Del left the Paramount Pictures studio lot, much to Del's relief. Now that they had essentially 'done their good deed for the day' as Stephen put it, it was time to relax and see the sights.

They drove all around with the music blaring so loud that Del was sure she was going to be partially deaf later. Stephen told Del all about his week so far. There were some naughty details, sworn to silence by the Sprinkles Proclomation. However, most of it was about Stephen meeting various people, snuggling on the couch with Zach and doing some window shopping. Stephen explained that he had been waiting for Del to come so they could do the tourist thing.

They walked all around after they parked, checking out shops and laughing as they named the Hollywood stars on the sidewalk. They made it all the way to the iconic Chinese theatre and Del cursed her crappy flip phone that didn't have a camera. Stephen came to the rescue though and they snapped a crap ton of pictures. There was a lot of people doing the same, but surprisingly she didn't pay any attention to the crowd. Stephen was keeping her attention off of the surrounding people by stepping into the cemented shoe molds of various stars.

Del found out that her and Cathy Bates had the same shoe size and Stephen found out that his hands were a dead match for Pierce Brosdon's. They took a few goofy pictures of their tongues sticking out with a guy dressed as a living statue of Elvis. Even managed to take a picture with a guy who was dressed as Batman. Decked out with hard rubber pecs and all.

Finally, they finished up at a small local coffee shop. For Del it was weird being the customer and not the barista behind the counter. It felt like she was some weird outsider. People in California loved expensive looking places with expensive prices. Del about had a heart attack at how high a simple black coffee with cream and sugar was.

Once they received their coffees, the two sat outside in an sitting area that was lively but not overly crowded. Del took a sip of her coffee and cringed slightly.

"Man, they need to clean that coffee machine better." Del mumbled under her breath, even with the cream and sugar, it was bitter and gritty.

Stephen chuckled, "Well, most people don't know good coffee if it bit them in the ass. I agree though, this coffee is rough."

Frowning Del shook her head, "I mean, I know our shop back home isn't the fanciest thing on the block but our coffee is way better than this."

"Yeah, Peter would have a stroke over how they treat their espresso machine." Stephen said thoughtfully.

Both of them looked at each other grinning as they repeated Peter's training, " _Treat her like your lover and she'll love you back. Treat her like trash and she'll give you shitty coffee. No one likes shitty coffee._ "

They both laughed, taking sips of their coffee and cringing at the same time.

"Good god, maybe we should open a coffee shop here. Surely we'd pack them in with lower prices and better tasting coffee. This is just sad." Del said as she took the lid off her coffee and looked inside, her brow furrowed as she tried to will the coffee to taste better.

Stephen grew quiet and Del put the lid back on her coffee. Looking up at him she frowned, he had a weird look on his face that she just couldn't read.

"What's that look for?" She said suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing." He grinned and took another sip of his coffee, making him shiver. "Good god, okay no more of that."

Del laughed as they both agreed the coffee was terrible, however Del was determined to finish it since she paid a whopping six dollars for it. She took another sip and Stephen gave her a hard time all the way back to the car. By the time they got back, she finished it by sheer will power and was never so thankful to be done with the cup.

"Where to now?" Del said as they got into Zach's sporty car.

"Well, it's supposed to be a surprise but I think I've cashed in my lot for those today." Stephen said with a grin.

"Yes, yes you have." She gave him a stern look as she crossed her arms and Stephen chuckled.

"Fine, then. We're going clubbing."

"What?! Why?" Del yelled as Stephen cringed.

"Uh, well it wasn't my idea if that helps."

Del rolled her eyes, "I don't believe that for a minute."

"No seriously, it wasn't. It was Zachary's" Stephen grinned.

Del rubbed her temples, "Stephen, you know I can't dance."

"Well, yeah. But what about that one time at Peter's house with his wife Maggie and your mom?"

"Stephen, I was in high school! And I was like falling down drunk! I think you were making that up about me dancing on the table."

Stephen grinned as he started driving, "Well, I have the pictures on my phone in case you need a reminder."

Del gasped in horror, "You didn't show those pictures to anyone did you?!" Chris would die laughing.

Stephen gave her a wicked smile, "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. You'll just have to come out dancing and see for yourself."

Del groaned and let out a sigh, "I swear Stephen... Fine, I'll go but I'm not drinking."

She really shouldn't be drinking anyway, not with possibly being pregnant and everything. Jesus, she still hadn't told Stephen about that either. How could she? He'd probably throw a party or something ridiculous. She could practical see it now, him calling himself 'Uncle Stephen'.

Stephen laughed, "I won't make you do anything you do want to Del."

"Ha! Liar!" She snorted as he turned down another street, back the way they came.

"Well, okay. I promise I won't make you do anything too humiliating?"

"Why is that a question?" Del laughed at his thoughtful face.

"Because, it's you?" He said as he grinned cheekily and Del gave him a evil glare.

Stephen chuckled, "Hey, can't deny the truth, sweet cheeks."


	8. Spilled Beans

Del swallowed hard as Stephen continued to stare at her, his eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. They'd driven to Zach's house (not really a house but more like a freaking hotel by size standards), in order to change and meet up with the guys at the club.

The issue at hand was not about what she was going to wear or even the style of shoes Stephen picked out for her, which were ridiculous heels she'd never wear in a million years. It wasn't even about how uncomfortable she was in such an expensive house...

"You...what?"

Del fidgeted, seriously one stupid comment while they were messing and joking around and she let the cat out of the bag. She might as well of had 'I'm possibly pregnant' tattooed on her forehead. There was no way to back pedal out of this, Stephen wouldn't let it lie even if she begged him.

"I uh..." She looked around the vast room that was Zach's bedroom, or was that Stephen's and Zach's? Anything to not to have to look at him.

"Delany, look at me." Del swallowed hard again, sweat breaking out along her forehead. It was never good when he called her by her full name. Finally, she looked at him. Her heart was hammering a million times a minute and she felt her hands start to shake a little.

Stephen looked at her for a moment, "Did you just say your pregnant?"

Del shook her head, "No, I said 'Mom's don't wear hooker shoes.'" She bit her lip slightly as Stephen raised a brow at her.

"O-Kay. Now that you've attempted to bullshit me, you can tell me the truth." His face was calm, but Del had a feeling she'd have to choose her words wisely. Slowly, she explained to Stephen how her and Chris had... Well...

By the time Del was done her voice was shaking so bad that it was getting harder and harder to talk. She'd held it in for so long that it was almost painful to say all her worries and fears out loud. Even thought Stephen was her best friend, even though she knew she needed to talk to someone...

Stephen listened carefully until she was done. When she finally finished, he wrapped his long arms around her in a tight, warm hug. Del sobbed a little, tears running down her face.

"I d-don't want to e-end up like Mom. I don't want C-Chris to feel t-trapped either. Fuck...I-I haven't even told him I love him yet."

Stephen chuckled warmly and pulled back to rest his hands on Del's shoulders as he looked her in the eye.

"Sweetie, one thing at a time. Did you take a test?"

"N-no."

"Why?" He frowned.

"B-because it's too soon I think."

"Are you late?" He asked her seriously and Del half laughed, half sobbed.

"I stopped k-keeping tract of my p-periods when dip-shit and I stopped sleeping t-together."

Stephen blinked, "That was like over a year ago..."

"I didn't expect t-to... I..." Del looked at Stephen as she bit her lip, tears staining her cheeks. She felt helpless and Stephen sighed, a soft smile on his face.

"Okay. So we need to change our plans slightly."

Del blinked through her blurry vision, "Huh?"

"Yep, a change of plans. First things first." Stephen let got of her shoulders and grabbed his phone off of the bed where he tossed it. Texting like a mad man, Del started to freak out.

"Wait! What are you doing!?" She went to grab his phone and Stephen grinned, keeping it out of her reach.

"Chill sweet cheeks, I'm not like you. I'm just letting Zach know we're are running late. Come on. Let's finish getting ready and we'll head to the store."

* * *

Stephen: **Sorry, we're gonna be L8.**

**_Oh?_ **

Stephen: **Yeah, BF ER 911.**

**_Everything okay?_ **

Stephen: **O_o Not sure?**

**_You two aren't planning on running back to NV are you?_ **

Stephen: **NO.**

**_Good. ;-)_ **

Stephen: **:-P**

Zach chuckled as he responded to Stephen's text. The man was an enigma in his world. A good one.

Chris looked at Zachary and grinned, "Text from your man?"

Zachary gave him a smirk and nodded, "Yes, seems they are going to be late getting to the club."

"Something wrong?" Chris asked, pulling on the nice grey button up shirt he'd grabbed earlier. He was excited to be spending time with Del, especially later when they were alone. It had only been a week, but he'd missed her. A lot.

He wanted to talk to her, laugh with her, dance with her...among other things. He felt gitty and happy all day waiting for her to come to the studio. When she showed up, she was so damn beautiful he just couldn't help but kiss her. He felt slightly guilty about all the curve balls that had been thrown at her, but she took it all in stride and he was proud of her. She was a lot stronger than she realized, she just needed to be more confident.

The fact that she managed to get through the scene in one piece was surprising, not to mention she looked sexy with her makeup all done up in that black little apron. Chris grinned to himself, maybe he could convince Del to wear just an apron later what they were alone.

Zachary chuckled, "Well, I wouldn't say something is wrong. I think she's just having one of her moments again. She doesn't like dancing from what Stephen told me."

"Really?" Chris frowned, looking at him as he combed his hair back.

"Yeah, I'm sure there's a story there but he won't tell me."

Chris chuckled, "You sound like that bothers you." Unable to stop the teasing tone in his voice.

Zachary rolled his eyes, "No, it's not like that. I just want him to trust me."

Chris blinked, that was probably more honest than Zachary wanted to admit. He seemed to realized what he said and huffed, checking his collar. The two fell into silence for a moment as Chris slipped on his shoes.

"Well, looks like we both have our work cut out for us." Chris grinned cheekily and Zachary snorted.

"You more so than me."

* * *

Del fidgeted as they stood crammed into the small store bathroom, three pregnancy tests lined up and currently showing a small picture of a clock on the small digital screen. Seriously, when the fuck did pregnancy tests get so high tech? Del hated to say it, but it had been a painfully long time since she had to worry about taking one.

Stephen and helped her pick the best, most expensive ones on the shelf. The reasoning being that there was probably a less chance of a false reading that way. Or at least she hoped.

Del started to nibble on her thumb nail as she looked at the little screens. The instructions had said five minutes for a reading. So far, it was the longest five minutes Del had ever had to wait and she feeling the strain.

Stephen chuckled, causing Del to glance at him.

"So, since we are on the subject..." He began and Del finally gave him her full attention.

"What?"

"You said you haven't told him you love him yet. Does that mean you do?" He wiggled his eye brows and Del groaned.

"Ugh, I was hoping you'd forget that part."

"Nope." He grinned like a ten year old boy and Del sighed.

"Yes, I'm in love with him. I know that sounds stupid, especially after only being together for what? A few weeks? I mean, I'm not even sure we're dating." Del frowned, checking the tests again, irritated that they still hadn't given a clue as to her fate.

"So?"

Del frowned as she turned her attention back to Stephen, "You know, sometimes it would be nice if you'd say something like, 'Oh, I totally get it' or something."

Stephen shrugged and smiled, "Hey, I call 'em like I see 'em. And what makes you think you aren't dating him?"

"Well, I mean it isn't 'official'." Del said, frowning.

Stephen started laughing, "Del, this isn't high school."

Del blushed, a mixture of irritation and embarrassment on her face, "I know that Queenie. I just don't want to call him my boyfriend when he isn't."

"I think you could declare him your long lost husband and he'd roll with it." Stephen chuckled and Del rolled her eyes.

"You're so full of shit."

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm full of the finest shit there is, that's why my eyes are hazel and not brown." He said indignantly.

Del laughed finally and Stephen grinned. Del shook her head and looked back to the tests balanced on the bathroom sink. Blinking she stared at the three tests and Stephen leaned over to look at them as well.

Del felt her heart beat a little faster as she stared at the tests.

"Holy shit..." She whispered.


	9. Awkward Blunders

The club was jam packed full of people, even though it was early in the evening. The music was blaring and the bar was already serving a massive crowd of people. The crowd was lively, with people dancing and laughing, making the energy feel happy and light. Chris just hoped that Del wouldn't feel too over whelmed.

They had taken Chris's car to the club. He was actually glad that Zachary had called ahead for a private VIP room in the back, he wasn't sure how Del would feel with this crowd. The room was slightly quieter, with large couches and a nice table. The lighting through the club and the back room was darker, but lit with softer lighting so you could still see.

Currently, Zachary and him had taken to waiting in the room for Del and Stephen. Chris had no idea what would cause them to be so late. Taking a sip of his bourbon, he looked at Zachary.

"Any word?"

"Nope. I figure well give them a few more minutes and then call them." Zachary said casually, but it was clear by how many times he kept glancing at his phone that he was getting a little worried too.

The sound of foot steps became apparent, causing both men to look towards the entrance. After a moment another man walked in with a grin as he removed his sunglasses to expose his pale blue eyes.

"Sebastian? Hey man it's good to see you!" Chris grinned as he walked over to the actor and lightly punching his shoulder.

"Thanks. Sorry if I'm crashing the party, someone told me you were back here so I just wanted to stop by and say hi." Sebastian grinned a toothy smile as Zachary came over and shook hands with him, a genuine smile on his face.

"Good to see you Zach."

"You too Sebastian. How are things?"

Sebastian chuckled, shrugging, "Going good, just taking a little down time between shooting. I hear you two are working on that hit man movie. I auditioned for it, but didn't get it. Good to see you guys working together on something."

Chris grinned, "It's been a lot of fun. My girlfriend actually ended up helping us out as a stand in with her best friend Stephen. Stephen is dating Zachary too. Hey, if you want to hang out a little longer they should be here soon."

Zachary snickered, "Yeah, keep us from going crazy was we wait."

Sebastian laughed and shrugged, "Sure, why not. I'm actually kind of interested to see who snagged you two."

"It was more of us doing the snagging I think." Zachary said seriously and Chris grinned, nodding.

"Seriously? You went after them?" Sebastian blinked and then grinned, "Well shit, now I really want to meet them. They must really be something for you two to chase after them."

Sebastian looked between them for a moment, "Let me take a guess," he pointed at Chris and smirked, "probably a tall, cute blonde. And you," he pointed to Zachary, "Probably a semi tall, brunette."

Chris and Zachary started laughing, "Well you're half right—"

Just as Chris started speaking his words were cut off as foot steps approached the back room again. The sound of Stephen and Del's happy laughter echoing down the hallway. All three turned as they walked in and Chris felt his heart skip a beat.

Del was dressed in a snug fitting dark green shirt that hugged her body in all the right places, as well as a pair of black jeans. The deep green of the shirt made her eyes seem brighter. Her hair and makeup were perfect and Chris chuckled to himself, knowing Stephen probably helped her.

Del smiled brightly when she saw him, making his heart pick up its pace for a moment. Stephen grinned next to her, dressed in a pair of brown dress pants and a soft purple button up shirt.

"Sorry we were late, I had to—Sebastian?" Del blinked as she spotted the man standing next to Chris. Chris looked surprised and so did everyone else except for Sebastian.

"Hello Del. Nice to see you again." He said smoothly, hiding his surprise as she laughed, giving him a quick hug. Zachary and Stephen had the same shared look of shock and Chris felt like he just got kicked in the stomach. How the hell did she know Sebastian?

Del grinned up at Sebastian before turning towards Chris. "He was on my flight here. I got air sick and he helped me out."

She was practically beaming with happiness and Chris felt his brain try to adjust to the new development. "Oh, I see."

He managed to not make it sound like he was irritated, but just barely. It was Stephen, surprisingly that shed some light on the subject.

"Wait, wait. Hold on a sec. You said some guy helped you when you got sick." He said with disbelief.

Del blinked, confused by their reactions, "Uh, yeah."

"Del, do you know who Sebastian is?" Stephen asked, a wicked smile playing on his lips and Chris raised a brow as Zachary looked on curiously.

"Uh, some guy?" She said, completely serious.

The room grew quiet, the only sound coming from the loud music playing in the club. All of them were looking at her in varying degrees of blank faces, except Stephen whose shoulders were shaking from his silent laughter.

"Oh my god! The Ditz strikes again!"

"Hey Queenie, you better stop making fun of me before I beat you senseless." She said, mock offended as she crossed her arms. Chris might have been irritated, but it didn't escape his notice how cute she was when she got sassy.

Stephen laughed harder, Zachary smirking next to him, "That's Sebastian Stan. You know, from the Captain America movies. 'Bucky' Barnes."

Del blinked as she looked at Sebastian, trying to place his face. He smiled at her and Del's face started to turn red, from the top of her ears to the base of her neck. The sudden realization had her flustered as she tried to speak.

"O-oh, I'm so s-sorry! I didn't r-realize who you w-were."

Stephen grinned and stepped over to her, snaking his arm around her shoulders, "And cue the first socially awkward blunder of the night!"

Del groaned and elbowed Stephen, making him wince. Chris chuckled as Del looked at him, completely bewildered.

Damn she was cute when she had that look too.


	10. Drive & Find

The relief was immense, causing Del for the first time since her mother had passed away, to fully let go of her inhabitions. The pregnancy scare was over and finally laid to rest. The little screens had popped up with a resounding 'Not Pregnant' and Del felt like she'd been given a second chance.

After a hasty celebration in the cramped bathroom, Del and Stephen hauled ass to the club. Surprisingly when they got there, their names were on the VIP guest list. She would have felt awkward about it, but she was too damn happy right then. All she wanted to do was see Chris and kiss him. She knew she'd still have to have a talk with him, a serious one, but now it didn't feel like the dark cloud of doom was hanging over her.

When they entered the back room and saw their guys waiting she was feeling really good. Even seeing Sebastian there had been a surprise. Just when she was about to ask what he was doing there, Stephen pointed out that Sebastian was actually another actor, Sebastian Stan.

After her embarrassment had faded a bit, their small group started talking and laughing. Drinks were brought and Del and Stephen both snagged one, downing the first shot like no ones business. Del was in such a good mood that she let Chris lead her to the dance floor. She gave him fair warning that she couldn't dance but he said he did that that was all that mattered.

And damn it all if he wasn't right.

Del normally hated dancing, either by herself or with someone else. She just never could seem to find the beat or match her body to who she was with. But with Chris, something clicked. They danced liked wild loons and Del couldn't help laughing happily as he danced with her, twirling her around and even dipping her low before pulling her into a kiss.

Stephen and Zach were quiet the pair as well. Stephen was an excellent dancer in his own right and with Zach leading, they made a fierce presence on the dance floor. Zach was very commanding and Stephen just seemed to flow with him like the moves were practiced. Del couldn't stop giggling as she watched them. A few more songs passed and Del was feeling a little thirsty.

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna go grab a drink." She said loudly to Chris over the music.

"I can go so you can take a break if you want. Just tell me what to get." He half yelled back.

Del grinned, "How about a Vodka Cranberry?"

Chris grinned back, "Okay, I'll be right back."

Del nodded and walked back to the private VIP room so she could sit down. The room was much quieter. Surprisingly, Sebastian was still there, sipping a cold beer and playing with his phone.

"Oh man, have you been sitting here the whole time?" Del said, appologeticly.

Sebastian looked up and gave her a soft smile, "Don't worry, I'm a big boy. Sometimes it's nice to be alone and not have a bunch of people hanging around. Thanks for letting me hang out with guys." He gave her a sly smile, "I didn't realize it was a double date."

Del blushed a little, "Y-yeah, sorry about...well, everything. I should have known who you were when we were on the plane. I'm not really good with pop culture. I don't even own a tv. Stephen teases me about it a lot actually."

"No, it's really fine. It was kind of nice just being 'some guy'." He grinned as he teased her and Del huffed a little, blushing harder.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Though you didn't tell me your 'maybe boyfriend' was Chris."

Del blinked, "Well, no I didn't. I mean, who is going to believe a thirty-one year old barista is dating an A list actor. I don't believe it." She laughed, making her green eyes bright and Sebastian watched her for a moment.

"I don't know. Most people who work in Hollywood tend to want some sense of normalcy."

Del tilted her head slightly, a bit confused. His tone had changed slightly, though she didn't really get how. He sounded...she didn't even know what the word was.

The sounds of foot steps and laughter pulled Del's attention towards the entrance. Stephen, Zach and Chris came in with smiles on their faces. A waitress dressed in a white and black outfit holding a large tray of drinks following close behind them. Chris smiled when he saw Del, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. There was something off about it, but she couldn't place it.

Walking over to her he handed her her drink and she smiled gratefully, "Thank you."

Chris nodded and kissed her temple, hesitating there for just a moment, "You're welcome."

The waitress set the tray of drinks down, which turned out to be shots. Del laughed, "Jesus, did you buy the bar?"

"Hey, I have some serious fun planned and you're not ruining it." Stephen said in his most sassy voice, making Zach roll his eyes and grin.

"You'll stay and hang with us for a while right Sebastian?" Zach said, turning to the man in question who stood and tucked his phone away and stood near Del. Del grinned at Sebastian as he nodded.

"Sure, sounds fun."

"Great!" Stephen said happily and started passing everyone shots.

Once everyone had their shot, Del with one in each hand, Stephen grinned and loudly proclaimed, "To new beginnings!"

They all clinked their glass, Chris chuckling as Del accidentally hit his a little too hard and spilled some of his drink. They all chorused Stephen's toast and downed the shots. It was going to be a fun night.

* * *

Hours passed and Del was hammered, for lack of a better word. Stephen wasn't too far behind her. They weren't really big drinkers, so it didn't take much. However Stephen was determined to make this night the best.

"Hey!" He said, slightly slurred as he hung off of Zach, who was holding him up as they sat on one of the couches. He was in danger of falling over, but Zach had a good grip on his waist.

"Yeah!?" Del said, excitedly, wedged in between Chris and Sebastian. She didn't know why Sebastian was sitting with her and Chris, but she felt warm, happy and snuggly. Chris had his arm firmly around her waist, which Del didn't mind at all.

"You remember that game we used to play when I first got my car?" Stephen half whispered.

"Drive and find" They both shouted, causing the other three men to look at them with a mixture of smiles and curiosity.

"Drive and find?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes! It's the best game!" Del said, giggling.

Zach smirked slightly as he shared a look with Chris, who rubbed Del's side a little with his hand. "How's it played?" Zach asked.

"There are rules!" Stephen declared, "There are two that are 'it' and the rest are 'seekers'."

"Like in Harry Potter!" Del giggled again as Sebastian grinned. Chris was being unusually quiet and Del rubbed his thigh playfully. She was definitely feeling the affects of the alcohol.

"Yes!" Stephen said, "However, those that are 'it' have to hide somewhere in the city. Texting clues to the 'seekers'. Which ever seeker finds one that is 'it' first, gets a prize!"

"A prize?" Zach looked at Stephen curiously.

"Yep! You're allowed to ask for anything you want, as long as the one who is 'it' agrees. Like a kiss," Del grinned as she surprised Chris with a quick kiss on the cheek, making him smile a goofy smile.

"Or other things." Stephen said as he wiggled his eye brows at Zach, who laughed.

"There's one problem though," Sebastian said as he leaned forward, "you two are drunk."

"That's the best part! Figuring out the drunk texts. Which means, me and Del are 'it'. You boys are all 'seekers!'" Stephen declared again, gleefully.

"Oh! We should make it interesting!" Del grinned, her cheeks a rosy pink from the shots she'd taken earlier. "We'll be moving constantly, so you boys will have to be on your game!"

"Oh that's good!" Stephen grinned, "Alright, Del and I get a head start of 30 minutes. Well only take cabs and well text you the first clue."

"Uh, I don't know if this is a good idea." Chris said, eyeing Zachary.

Zach smirked and glanced at Sebastian, "Why not? This should be easy, they don't know the area like we do and besides they have phones."

"Yes! I have one too!" Del grinned as she pulled out her flip phone, waving it around like a trophy.

Stephen and her busted up laughing.

Sebastian grinned, "I'm in."

Del grinned at him as Chris's hand tightened slightly around her waist. Del looked at Chris unable to stop herself from kissing his full lips, making him blink in surprise for a moment. When she pulled away he had a hungry look in his eye and a devilish smile that made her heart race.

"The prize can be anything?" He asked her, voice low.

Del felt her face flush as she smiled shyly at him, "As long as the person who is 'it' says it's okay."

"Good." He grinned at Zach, a confident look on his face, "I'm in too."

Zach smirked and nodded, "Alright, let's play."


	11. Drunk Riddles

**_First Clue! You guys ready?!_ **

Sebastian: **Yep.**

Chris: **Yes.**

Zachary: **Sure.**

Del grinned lopsidedly at Stephen as he giggled next to her in the back of the cab as she received the text messages on her phone. They'd been riding for thirty minutes and already had their root figured out. They'd send their 'seekers' their first clue and wait only twenty minutes for them at that spot. If they didn't catch them in three attempts they'd go to 'Sudden Death'. Which meant that Stephen and Del would split up, covering more ground and making it harder on the guys.

If no one found them in two hours then they could ask anything of their 'seekers' and they had to do it. It might have been the alcohol talking, but Del and Stephen felt pretty confident that they'd win.

_**Alright, here we go! 'Left fut, right foot - Misery made me crzy.'** _

Del giggled as she tapped out the text, her spelling was terrible. Though she did try to focus so they could at least read it.

Stephen laughed, "They are never going to get that."

"Oh come on, Cathy Bates was awesome in Misery. They're a bunch of famous actors, they should know the movie!" Del giggled as they drove towards their first destination.

* * *

The three men looked at their phone screens with a mixture of humor and confusion.

"What the hell? 'Misery made me crzy'?" Chris said, chuckling.

Zach continued to stare at his phone for a moment before smirking and making his way towards the door. Sebastian following with a soft smile on his lips.

"Wha—? Do you guys know where they are?" Chris asked, following as well.

"Misery." Zachary said as they made their way through the club and outside to his car that was waiting, "It was a movie staring Cathy Bates. Stephen told me Del's feet match her's."

Chris groaned as the three of them climbed in, Sebastian snickering softly. "I take it she didn't tell you that?"

"No." Chris said, his tone a little sharper than he meant it to be. He really didn't like the fact that he was here. He liked Sebastian, would even call him a casual friend, but he didn't like how he caught him looking at Del earlier.

"Hurry up, we are going to have to hurry if we want to catch them." Zachary revved the engine slightly as Sebastian crawled into the back and Chris road shot gun. He stepped on the gas, dodging into traffic and quickly speeding towards their destination.

* * *

_Twenty minutes later..._

Stephen and Del were a giggling mess as they posed for a picture on Cathy Bates foot prints. Stephen sent the picture to all three with a text.

**_Better get a mov on! ;-P_ **

* * *

Zachary was thumping his fingers against the steering wheel in irritation as they waited for traffic to move. All of their phones beeped as the next text message was received.

Sebastian was the first to look at it and he chuckled, "I must say, that is a nice picture."

"Huh?" Chris said as he pulled his phone out, tapping in his code he blinked. There were Del and Stephen squatting down with Del's feet in Cathy Bates foot prints. They were making funny faces at the camera. The problem was that from the position Del was in, her low cut shirt had gapped a bit revealing a lacy black and purple bra.

Zachary snickered next to Chris as he glanced over at his phone. "Well at least we got the place right."

Chris gritted his teeth a bit, attempting to keep calm. Why the hell didn't they check the picture before they sent it?

Glancing at Stephen's misspelled text, he sighed. They were drunk, that was why.

A moment later another text came through, this one from Del.

**_Don't fel bad, the next 1 should be a snitch!_ **

Another text.

**_I ment SINCH. LOL_ **

Zachary snickered as Chris read the text out loud as traffic started to move again. Another ding and the next text came through.

**_'I c my name in lights!'_ **

Sebastian read the text out loud, chuckling. "Your girl is pretty cute Pine."

Chris smirked, thinking to himself that she was and she was all his. He'd be damned if Sebastian pulled a fast one and somehow managed to get to Del first. As long as they all stuck together, that shouldn't be a problem.

"Yes, she is."

* * *

"Think they'll get it?" Stephen asked as he and Del stumbled into the back of a cab.

"They should, it's a easy one." Del laughed as Stephen gave the driver the name if their next location.

"It's 'Hollywood' for a reason." Del giggled again as the cab pulled forward and into traffic.


	12. Sudden Death

The night had stretched into the wee hours of the morning. Despite their best efforts, Zachary, Chris and Sebastian always seemed to miss them by minutes. Del and Stephen had a blast thinking up clues. They'd been to Cathy Bates foot prints, the Hollywood sign viewing area, and a bar called Destiny (in which they had a couple more drinks). Del's sides were hurting from all the laughter, but it felt good. She was secretly hoping that Chris would find her in the 'Sudden Death' round. Stephen on the other hand had voiced his opinions about Zach losing so Stephen could tease him to death.

“I’ll I’m sayin’,” Stephen said as his words slurred together as they traveled in the back of another cab. “Is he’s an evil tease. You should see what he does to me! I’d tell you, but you’re so innocent.”

Del blinked and then giggled at Stephen’s serious, half way to pouting, face. In their last stop at the bar Stephen had aired a bit of his relationship to Del. It felt good to giggle about Zachary, since he did seem kind of intense. Del liked him, but Del imagined that if Chris teased and tormented her as much as Zach did to Stephen…

Well, she’d probably die from sexual tension overload.

Del patted her best friends knee, “Aw, you poor thing.” She said in the most sarcastic voice she could muster. Stephen might whine about Zach’s teasing, but it was clear that he loved it. Stephen was a glutton for attention.

Stephen stuck his bottom lip out as he continued to pout, soaking up Del’s fake sympathy like a puppy. A moment later they burst out laughing and the cab pulled over to Del’s drop off. She’d chosen the coffee shop her and Stephen had visited earlier in an attempt to sober up. Stephen had thought it was silly, but she pointed out that it was best to hide in plain sight.

Stephen on the other hand had decided to head back to Zach’s house, claiming that the last place he would look for Stephen would be in the bed. Del pointed out that if she was looking for him, that’d be the first place she’d check. Agreeing to disagree Del hugged Stephen tightly.

“Thanks for tonight. Thanks for keeping me company earlier in that shitty cramped bathroom.”

Stephen smiled, his hair was a mess and his clothes were wrinkled from getting out of cabs for the last hour, “Hey, I can’t call myself your bestie if I don’t hang when times are tough. Remember the condom next time.” He wiggled his eyebrows and Del punched him in the shoulder, making him laugh.

“Asshole.” She said, a smile on her face as she opened the door.

“Well good luck!” Stephen said cheerfully.

“Thanks, you too!” Del climbed out of the cab, attempted to get her balance back. The sidewalk was moving a little bit too fast and it took her a moment for her to get her barings. She was really going to be paying for all the drinking tomorrow.

“OH! Del!” Stephen said as she began to walk towards the front of the coffee shop. She stopped and turned, staggering a little.

“Yeah?”

“Watch out for Sebastian! That guy has the hots for you!” Stephen called out, a moment later he closed the door and the cab sped away. Del shook her head, smiling. Stephen was more hammered than she was if he though Sebastian was into her. Besides, what did it matter? She had Chris and that’s all she needed.

* * *

Chris was somewhere between irritated and frustrated. It didn’t help that every time they missed Del and Stephen they all received a photo of them doing silly faces or goofy poses. The last one at a bar called ‘Destiny’ just about had his skin crawling to the point where he wanted to punch something.

Del was the only one in the picture, her face red from the alcohol. She had one foot up on a bar stool rung, giving her thicker thigh a nice curve around her ass as she leaned forward. With a shot of something in her hand, she was winking as she blew a kiss. Not even aware that there were two other guys in the picture off to the side that were looking down her shirt.

That wasn’t even the worst part.

Sebastian and Zach also received the picture. It didn’t bother him so much about Zach, but Sebastian… That was a different matter.

Currently the three of them were riding in Zach’s car waiting for the next text message to come through. They’d missed them at three locations, so now it was ‘Sudden Death’. If they didn’t find them within the hour, Del and Stephen would have a laundry list of stilly stuff for them to do. Chris actually didn’t mind that part. What he did mind was that now that Del and Stephen had split up, Zach would go after Stephen, which would leave Sebastian and Chris to go after Del. Sebastian was being his usual laid back self and minus the look he’d given Del earlier, he hadn’t tried to stir the pot.

The beeping of their phones had them exchange glances as Zach stopped at a stop light. Zach seemed just as irritated, though Chris had no idea why. It’s not like Stephen was posing and men were leering at him.

Del: **_Sudden Death Round! ‘My coffee tastes terrible – evan on Sunset’_**

Stephen: **_‘There’s no place like HOME’_**

Sebastian read the texts out loud as Zach drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, thinking. Chris sighed, “Why the hell did we want to play this again?”

“Because we are over confident douchebags?” Sebastian answered, making both Zach and Chris chuckle.

“Sounds about right.” Chris said, his brain trying to get a grip on itself. He was fine, really. He’d find Del, kiss her and take her back to his house. She’d probably be sick tomorrow with all the drinking and he was trying to figure out how to take care of her and still work tomorrow.

Zach turned and started heading back towards Sunset Boulevard. Something dawned on Chris and he grinned, “Hey pull over.”

Zach glanced at him before doing so, “Got an idea where your girl is?”

“Yeah, where does a drunk barista go when she wants to be found?” Chris grinned, his heart hammering that he finally figured out one of their silly clues.

Sebastian laughed at Chris’s excited face, “Man, I haven’t seen anyone look like that in a while.”

Zach snickered, “I don’t know. You both getting out?”

Chris narrowed his eyes slightly at Zachary’s obvious dig about Sebastian liking Del. On the other side of that, it kind of made him feel better that he wasn’t the only one who saw it.

“Nah,” Sebastian said, surprising both of them. “I think I’m just gonna head home. If you wouldn’t mind dropping me off at the club Zach so I can grab my motorcycle?”

“Sure.” Zach nodded.

Chris tried to hold back the victory dance he wanted to do, but it was hard. “Alright, well it was good to see you again Sebastian.” He said, shaking the man’s hand firmly. Both of them smiling, but Chris had the distinct feeling that he’d probably be seeing Sebastian again really soon.

Letting go of his hand, he turned towards Zach and gripped his shoulder lightly, “Drive safe and good luck finding Stephen.”

Zach grinned, an echo of one of his more mischievous smiles, “Oh don’t worry. I already know where he is.”

Chris chuckled and opened the car door, stepping out onto the side walk. The streets still had some traffic and the sidewalks were clear for the most part. The early morning was wearing on, there were maybe a handful of coffee shops that could be open on the boulevard right now. Hopefully, he’d find her in the first few he checked.

Zachary honked the horn and Chris waved as he pulled away with Sebastian saluting him out the back window.


	13. Coffee & Vanilla

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, leaving comments, Kudos and bookmarking! It's very appreciated. 
> 
> This chapter is for those who are looking for a little insight on what Sebastian is thinking. ^_^

“Seriously?” Del frowned as she stared at the closed sign of the coffee shop; feeling that if she just stared at it hard enough it would magically switch to open and she could get a crappy cup of overpriced coffee.

Shit, how the hell was anyone going to find her? Del frowned as she leaned up against the side of the building, watching what little traffic there was pass by. Now that Stephen was gone it was difficult to stay focused. She really needed to sit down somewhere and sober up. Groaning, she mumbled to herself that this was exactly why she didn’t drink and do stupid shit.

Del looked around again, the sidewalks were well lit for the most part. There was probably another coffee shop around here that had just a shitty coffee as this one that was just as overpriced. If she could find one that was open she could sit down and wait for Chris to come and find her. Deciding this was the best course of action she stumbled forwards and down the sidewalk. She had to stop a few times, as the sidewalk kept moving unnaturally and making Del’s head spin.

“Ugh, why did we take those two shots at Destiny?” Del mumbled as she leaned heavily up against a closed shop window. The glass was cool and felt good against her skin. Closing her eyes for a moment, Del took a few even breaths. The distant sound of a motorcycle came and went, making Del’s hearing ring a little bit.

After a moment she heard the motorcycle come back around, she figured maybe they got lost. Hell, she wasn’t even sure where she was right now, she felt pretty out of it. Del wasn’t sure how long she had been leaning up against the window, but the sensation of a warm, strong hand on her shoulder brought had her opening her eyes to blink at a pair of pale blue eyes.

“Chris?” Del’s voice was a little breathy as a masculine voice chuckled.

“No, though I wish I was him right now.”

The voice sounded familiar and Del blinked a little, slowly recognizing Sebastian’s sharp, strong features. She smiled a little lopsidedly as she went to stand and instead ended up leaning into him. Sebastian slipped his arm around her shoulders to steady her as he grinned down at her.

“Sebastian?” She said, god she was tired. And drunk. Sebastian was warm and he smelled like heaven. Not as good as Chris, but still good. Del wrapped her arms around him to both steady herself and to feel his warmth at the same time.

It was weird, the glass had felt good because it was cold. Now Sebastian felt good because he was warm. She sighed softly, taking in a deep breath of his cologne. It was a good smell, she’d have to ask him later where he got it so she could get Chris some.

* * *

Sebastian stilled, feeling Del snuggle up to him and bury her head into his chest.

It was pure, dumb luck that he’d seen her leaning up against the side of a bookstore while heading home. He’d turned around and pulled over, fully intending to make sure she was okay and then call Chris that he’d found her.

After all, it was the right thing to do. Though, he had to admit it was fun teasing Chris here and there about Del and all of her little photos they’d received through the night. He was man enough to admit that he did like Del. She was funny, smart in a non-conventional way and her ditsy moments were cute as hell. She also had the most beautiful green eyes he’d ever seen. She was also curvy in all the right places.

Which he could definitely feel now that she was pressed up against him.

Sebastian swallowed, attempting to keep his cool and trying to keep his heart from pounding. He hadn’t even been looking for her, she just kind of showed up. Like on the plane, he’d been bored and not really expecting anything but another boring flight home. And yet, there she was making him laugh and being so casual around him like he was just a person and not another famous person.

He envied Chris… She was a rare find.

Del groaned softly as she gripped his waist a little tighter, it was clear she wasn’t feeling well but damn if his body wasn’t reacting to her. Even though she was sweaty from the adventures of the night, she still smelled good. A mixture of good strong coffee and vanilla…

He really need to call Chris.

Sighing, he patted her head, “It’s alright Del. I’ll call Chris.”

“Okay…” She said, her voice sounding tired.

Sebastian kept one arm around Del to make sure she didn’t fall over while he dug his phone out of his motorcycle jacket. Doing a quick scroll, he found Chris’s number and hit ‘call’. A moment later it was ringing and a moment after that Chris answered.

“ _Sebastian?”_

“Hey man, I found your girl.”


	14. Missed You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since tomorrow is Thankagiving, here's a little sexy chapter for all of you out there as my thanks to you!
> 
> I hope you enjoy the holiday tomorrow with your family and friends and eat food till your stuffed!
> 
> Happy Thankagiving!!!

Del giggled as Chris barely managed to get the front door open with one arm around her waist. Chris chuckled as she giggled louder as they both stumbled into the dark entry of Chris's home. Flicking on the light, Del squinted trying to figure out where she was. All she really cared about was that Chris had finally found her.

He'd seemed rather quiet on the way to his house, while Del babbled about how she hated drinking, but had fun regardless. They'd taken a secured car and on the ride to his house, she'd gotten her second wind. Becoming a giggling mess that soon had Chris smiling, even if only a little.

Chris closed the door behind them and the moment he turned back around, Del slipped her hands smoothly across his sides to grip his shirt. She was feeling a bit daring right now, which was mostly the liquid courage talking. But after all the ups and downs of the day she finally managed to be alone with Chris.

Chris blinked in surprise as Del pulled him suddenly towards her into a fierce kiss. She tried to reel herself back a little bit, trying to remind herself they still needed to talk. However the moment his hands snuck under her shirt and started to grip her hips, she suddenly forgot why talking was so important.

"God I missed you..." She moaned softly as he kissed down her neck, making her skin tingle with warmth. Something low in her abdomen tightened and Del found herself pulling Chris towards her mouth so she could nibble his bottom lip. She gripped his hair, letting it tangle around her fingers.

Chris half groaned, half growled in response and Del was hyper aware of the bulge that was making itself know by pressing against her. Chris kissed her deeply, almost possessively as he let his tongue play with hers. Del felt herself get a little light headed but she ignored it, letting the feeling of his warm, strong hands running over he body wash over her.

Chris pulled back slowly, his face slightly flushed as they both panted. "I missed you too..." He whispered hungrily and in the next moment he was kissing her again. Del moaned loudly as his hands ran up under her shirt to cup her breast through her bra.

God she loved his hands...

Del let out a half startled giggle as he lifted her up by reaching down and grabbing her ass. She instantly wrapped her legs around him as he slowly walked them back father into this house. Del wasn't sure where they were going to end up, be it the floor, couch or the bed; she didn't care.

Chris plopped her down onto his bed, a large king size with a wine red colored comforter. Del giggled madly as she sat on the edge of the bed in front of him. He looked so sexy with his rugged half shaven face and messy hair that she was drawn to him as well as the button on his jeans.

Filled with an overwhelming sense of want, she looped her fingers in the belt lopes and pulled him forward so she could unbutton his pants. Before he could protest, she had them pulled down with his boxers. Exposing his already hard member she gripped him tightly, causing Chris to suck in a quick breath.

Del let her tongue lick along its hard length, teasing the tip in soft wet swirls. He groaned, his hands coming up to caress her hair as he watched her tease him with her lips and tongue. She worked slowly, causing him to shiver and lightly grip her hair. She noticed he was being very careful to not force her to do anything more. Smiling to herself, Del took his full length into her mouth and began slowly sucking and licking every inch of his hard shaft.

Chris moaned as she continued to tease him with her tongue as she moved up and down, one hand on his bare muscular hip as the other held him still. The louder he moaned the more she teased him until finally he pulled himself away from her. Pushing her down onto the bed, his mouth found her's in a passionate hungry kiss that had Del arching her back.

Chris kicked off his pants and boxers, his shirt soon following before he started helping Del out of her clothes. It wasn't long before they were both completely naked, Del gasping as his fingers rubbed along her wet folds and swollen clit. Chris did his own teasing, licking her hard nipple with his tongue and causing Del to grip his shoulders a little harder than she normally did.

He sucked hard on her nipple as he slipped two fingers deep inside of her, making Del moan louder as she hit her bottom lip. His fingers hit a sensitive spot and Del arched her back as she gripped his hair.

"Please..." She practically begged, "I...I want you."

Chris pulled away from her breast and slid his fingers out as he leaned over to pull a condom out of the table side drawer. After getting it on, Del practically pushed him down onto the bed. He groaned as Del kissed along his hard chest, letting her hands trace around the base of his shaft.

Del wasted no time in getting on top of him and the moment he entered her, they both let out satisfied moans of pleasure. Rolling her hips, Del soon found a rhythm that had both of their voices growing louder.

Just as Del was on the brink of an orgasm, Chris gripped her hips and rolled them both over. His mouth found her's again as he began to thrust in and out of her deeply and slowly. She tried to bring her hips up to meet his, wanting him to go faster, but his hands gripped her hips roughly to keep her still.

It was the ultimate tease and Del thought she would die from the growing build that was threatening to wash over her. Chris kept his pace, growling into the nape of her neck. Biting her neck softly driving her over the edge and making her come, hard. Her scream of pleasure was interrupted briefly as Chris pulled out.

Del let out a whimper at the loss of him inside her, but before she knew it she was on her side with one leg held up by his strong hand as he spooned her. Between one moan and the next he entered her again, thrusting quickly inside of her wet, still orgasming folds. It wasn't long before Del found herself coming again.

Chris wrapped his arms around Del, holding her close as she did. This time Chris's loud moans of pleasure matched her's as he came as well, pumping into her deeply to draw it out as long as possible.

He kissed the back of her neck as they both panted. Del giggled softly, unable to control or care enough to stop it. Chris chuckled in her ear as she wrapped her arms over the top of his, soaking up his body wrapped around hers.

God, she loved him so much.

It wasn't just the sex. Or because he was famous. Or even because he sexy.

She loved him because he made her feel that he loved her completely. For all her faults and ditsy moments. For all her cluelessness and her panic about, well everything. It didn't matter that she was poor, or wore glasses, or was overweight.

He loved her for her.

Del felt her eyes close as the affects of alcohol and exhaustion finally won out.

"I love you...so much." She whispered, the feeling of Chris's soft lips kissing her shoulder lulling her to sleep.


	15. Hungover

Del groaned as she rolled over. The soft sheets were comfortable and the pillows were like heaven. Everything about the mattress was glorious and Del mumbled to herself to never drink again, just as her head started to throb.

"Ugh..." Del groaned as she rolled over.

The hang over wasn't even the worst part. Del had forgotten to take her contacts out last night before falling asleep. Wincing as pain shot through her eye balls as she tried to open them, Del cursed loudly as she took the first one out. Her eyes were unbelievably dry and no doubt red as all hell. It took a moment for her to muster enough courage to get the other one out. Another cursing round later and Del had tears running down her cheeks as she absently groped for her glasses.

Not finding them on the night stand, Del cautiously opened her eyes. She breathed out a sigh of relief that the room was dark. Frowning, it took a moment for Del to realize she wasn't in her bed in her apartment.

She was in Chris's house in L.A.

Blinking in order to try and get her eyes to focus, Del spotted what looked to be her glasses on top of a white piece of paper not too far from where she had reached for them. Slipping on her glasses so she could see, Del sat up with the sheet pulled up to her arm pits. Her name was written in Chris's precise handwriting and she smiled as she opened it.

**_Good Morning Beautiful,  
Rest up today. There's aspirin in the top drawer.   
Make yourself at home._ **

**_—Chris_ **

"God, this man..." Del whispered to herself, a blush working its way up her face. She was glad she was alone right now, if anyone saw her she'd probably die from embarrassment.

Del folded the note back up, determined to keep it as a momento. The events of last night were a little fuzzy, especially when she tried to remember through her hang over. Taking Chris's advise, she grabbed the aspirin and made her way slowly to the bathroom. A shower was in order as well as a strong cup of black coffee. She didn't particularly like her coffee black, but she needed it this morning.

After taking a shower, in the most beautiful bathroom Del had ever seen, she found her bag and pulled on a pair of cut off jean shorts and a white tank top. Contacts were not an option today, so she slipped her glasses back on as she made her way out of the bedroom.

Chris's house was huge, but not overly so. It was big enough to have a party if he wanted, but small enough where she didn't feel like she was going to get lost. Giant bookshelves were lined with books of all different topics, ranging from Shakespearean literature to photography to science fiction. His office, which was an open area off of the living room, had a nice desk piled with photos, a few cameras, books and papers.

Del smiled as she looked over the pictures on his desk, careful not to touch anything. There were scenic pictures of L.A. that were black and white. The few that were color were simple moments captured of various things; a homeless woman smoking a cigarette, Zachary offering up a devilish smile, Chris's sister, Katherine, dressed as a hippie at what looked to be a Halloween party. All of the photos were well done and Del smiled, she wished she had even half his talent. She defiantly wouldn't be a barista, that was for sure.

Del pulled herself away from the desk and towards the kitchen. Beautiful granite counter tops and wood cabinets greeted her. A homey little potted plant in the window drew her attention outside. Well taken care of plants and trees provided privacy to a big ass pool. Del stood there, mouth slightly agape.

"Holy shit..." She breathed. The beauty of his home and the over all comfy feel gave Del a surreal feeling. Only in her wildest dreams did she ever think she'd be standing in such a beautiful place. Pulling herself away from the window, Del searched for the coffee pot. After a few minutes she found it hidden behind a toaster oven.

"Poor thing, probably, hasn't been used in a while." Pulling it out and giving it a quick wipe down, Del did some more digging and found some ground coffee and filters. Within a few minutes the smell of fresh delicious coffee filled the air.

Humming to herself, Del pored herself a cup and downed a few aspirin.

"Oh yeah..." She said happily. Distantly Del heard her cell ringing and she quickly sprinted back to the bedroom to answer it. The sudden movement made her hand spin and she almost took a tumble as she entered the bedroom. After digging for her phone, she finally found it and flipped it open.

"H-hello?" She said, sounding a little breathless. God why the hell did she run for the phone?

" _Hey_." Said a masculine voice, Del blinked a little, still panting.

"Uhh..." She said helplessly, trying to place the voice. Her response was met by a deep chuckle.

" _It's Sebastian._ "

"Oh!" Laughing, Del sat down on the ground cross legged and leaned up against the bed, "Hi, how are you?"

" _I'm fine, I didn't mean to interrupt anything, I just wanted to make sure you and Chris got home okay._ "

"Oh yeah. He's not here right now, but I remember the ride...home." Del was thankful he couldn't see her face as she could feel her cheeks turning red. It was the one part of the night she remembered the most of.

Chris's hands gripping her hips...

Kissing her neck...

" _Del?_ " Sebastian said, his voice amused.

"Y-yes, sorry. I'm a bit hungover. Though I bet Stephen isn't, he never gets hangovers. No matter how much he drinks." Del chuckled, leaning her head back against the mattress.

" _I've always envied those people_."

"Me too." Del smiled.

Silence soon drifted over the line and Del got the distinct feeling that something was up.

"Uh, so yeah..." She said trying to get the conversation rolling again. "I'm fi—."

" _Hey, are you doing anything today?_ " Sebastian asked, interrupting her.

"Uh, well I figured I'd just kind of hang out around here today. Chris and Zach are shooting today and Stephen said that he was going to check something out. He's supposed to call me later, but not till the afternoon I think. Why?"

Del looked around Chris's bed room and rubbed her temples. Jesus, that whole thing just sounded weird to say. Since when the hell did her life consist of her man shooting a movie and her hanging out in a lavish home?

" _Well, would you like to hang out for a little bit? I could swing by and pick you up. I'm sure your not up for food, but we could always check out some more local areas that aren't so touristy._ "

Del bit her lip, thinking for a moment. Chris said to make herself at home, but honestly she was a little afraid to touch anything. And if she was already out and about with Sebastian it'd be easier for Stephen to meet up with them, instead of coming all the way out to Chris's house.

"Yeah, okay. Um, I don't really know how to give you directions to Chris's house though."

" _Don't worry, I've been there before. I'll pick you up in about an hour?_ "

"Sure." Del grinned as they said their goodbyes and hung up. Well, she wouldn't be hanging out with Chris today, but Sebastian was good company and seemed like a friend of Chris's. Just to be on the safe side she sent a text to both Stephen and Chris.

**_Hey, Sebastian is picking me up and we're going to hang out for a little bit. Call me later._ **

Del stood, phone still in her hand as she made her way back to the kitchen to finish off her coffee. She should probably eat something, but Sebastian was right about food not sounding good. Taking a long sip of the dark, now slightly cool coffee, Del's phone rang again.

She grinned as she flipped it open, as she took the time to look at the caller ID.

"Well good morning handsome." Del said in her best sexy voice.

Chris's warm chuckle met her ear, " _Well you sound a lot better than I expected you too_."

"Well, don't think I'm super woman or anything. I definitely have a hangover, I'm just trying to fight my way through it." Del laughed softly as she took another sip of her coffee.

" _So you're hanging out with Sebastian today?_ " His voice sounded casual enough but Del heard what he wasn't saying all the same.

"Now, don't tell me you're jealous that I'm hanging out with your friend." She teased. Chris snorted on the other end.

" _No. I'm not jealous, I was just curious how that all transpired._ "

Del smiled, he was totally jealous and it was cute as hell. "Well, he called to make sure we got home okay. And then he asked if I wanted to hang out for a bit until Stephen gets done doing whatever he was doing today. He's only been here a week and already he has a list of things he 'has' to do."

Del shook her head as she recalled part of their conversation in the cramped bathroom. He explained that regardless of the pregnancy turn out, that they'd hang out tomorrow after he checked on a few things. She tried to press him at the time, mostly as a distraction, about what he was doing but Stephen was tight lipped. She couldn't help feeling that he'd gotten more secretive since their fight a few weeks ago.

" _I see. Well I'll try and get done here as quick as I can. If I get hung up I'll call okay?_ "

" _Chris they're ready for you on set_." Someone called distantly and Del smiled.

"Hey, no worries. I promise I won't get into trouble. I still owe you a favor for finding me last night."

Chris chuckled, " _Oh really?_ "

"Well you did find me first."

Chris made a humming noise that didn't confirm or deny it as someone called for him again. " _I've got to go. Have fun okay?_ "

"Okay." Del said, her mouth on the brink of saying 'I love you'. She held back though, just barely. She didn't want the first time to be over the phone.

They hung up and Del chuckled a little to herself as she put her phone in her pocket. Chris was jealous, if only a little bit. Maybe he didn't realize it, but it was kind of nice in a way. The only relationship she had that any of her boyfriends got jealous over was her and Stephen's.

"Man, things change so quickly."


	16. Day Out

"There's no way in hell I'm getting on that Sebastian."

Del had her arms crossed over her chest, bag slung over her shoulder as she eyed the death trap, better known as a motorcycle. Sebastian stood next to his bike, wearing jeans and his motorcycle jacket. He grinned as she raised a brow at him.

"I don't know how to ride." She said, still not budging from her spot on the front steps.

"Well, that works out since I have a license and I know how to ride." He sounded confident and Del snorted.

"I'm wearing shorts."

"So get changed."

"I don't have a motorcycle jacket or a helmet."

Sebastian grinned and pulled out a spare helmet and jacket from side compartments attached to the bike. Holding them up, he smirked, clearly waiting for her next excuse.

He looked charming and the moment he wiggled his eye brows, she laughed.

"So you ask me to hang out and expect me to get on a motorcycle with you?"

"Well, it's not like you had anything better planned." He smirked bigger as Del's mouth fell open in surprise. Pushing her glasses back up in her nose in an attempt to gain her composure she clicked her tongue.

"Jerk."

Sebastian laughed, "So go get changed, I'll wait."

Del huffed as she turned back on her heel and went back inside. A few minutes later she emerged wearing a pair of old jeans that had seen better days, but kept her tank top on. Sebastian grinned at her and held the jacket out for her. Slipping it on, she found that while it fit in the shoulders, it was a little snug around her chest.

Fiddling with the zipper, Del tried to let her breath out as much as possible so she could zip the jacket all the way. It was a lost cause however, just making her appear to have the most ridiculous cleavage known to man.

"Damnit." She whispered.

Sebastian's laughter drew her attention, he was already on the bike with his helmet on.

"Problems?" He said, his words slightly muffled.

"Yes, the girls you have riding with you have small chests and are short. Probably blonde too." Del huffed, pointing to her cleavage problem and then to part of her tank top that had ridden up to expose some of her skin. There was a definite gap between the edge of the jacket and her jeans.

Sebastian was quiet for a moment as he looked her over, "Well, I guess I'll just have to make sure I only ride with curvy, semi tall brunettes from now on."

Del stared at him for a moment, his voice was so serious that for a second she thought he was hitting on her. Her face turned slightly red as she snatched the helmet he held out to her, attempting to hide her sudden embarrassment. She was obviously reading too much into this situation.

After another moment, Del had the helmet on with her glasses so she could see. Turning to look at him as she slung her bag over her shoulder she eyed the bike again. "So do I just...throw my leg over?"

"Yeah."

Not sure where to put her hands, it took Del a moment to figure out how to get on. Once she was situated behind him, she really didn't know what to do with her hands. She'd seen other people ride motorcycles before, but she never really paid too much attention where their hands were.

Sebastian's voice echoed in her helmet clear as a bell startling her, "Here, you need to hold on tight so you don't fall off. When you feel me lean, lean with me so we can keep balance."

"Uh...o-okay?" Del frowned, very unsure of this whole thing. What if they crashed?

Sebastian's chuckle filtered through the speaker system built into the helmet as he reached behind him and pulled her hands around his waist. Feeling suddenly nervous, Del tried to move her hands, but he held them in place.

"I don't want you to get hurt Delany. I promise I won't go too fast or pull any crazy stunts."

"But this just seems..." Del began and Sebastian looked over his shoulder at her.

"We're friends right?"

"Uh, yes?"

He laughed and she could tell by the wrinkling around his eyes that he was smiling, "It's not weird if we're friends right?"

"No, I guess not." Del said, biting her lip. This just seemed really intimate, being so close to him. She could have practically kicked herself for her comments on the jacket she made earlier.

"Good. Now hold on."

"O-okay." She said nervously, a second later Sebastian started the bike and put it in gear. Del let out a startled scream as she hugged Sebastian's middle as hard as she could, his laughter echoing inside her helmet.

* * *

Motorcycles were scary as fuck.

Strike that...

They were fun AND scary as fuck.

Del had never laughed and screamed so much at the same time. True to his word, Sebastian always seemed to know when Del was about to have a break down and would ease off the gas. It was freeing in a way, being so exposed as they sped down long roads and sides streets.

They went all over L.A. A small hole in the wall books store, an antique store, had the best burger ever at a food truck and stopped at a coffee shop that Del honestly considered a personal rival now, because their coffee was so good. Sebastian was laid back and down to earth like Chris that she found herself simply forgetting the fact that he was a famous actor. He was funny and charming, not in the boyish way like Chris, but in the 'man in control of himself' kind of way. It was intense and she had no idea why.

As they were finishing up their cup of coffee Stephen called, agreeing to meet up with them at the coffee shop. He seemed a little off on the phone, but Del didn't want to press it over the phone.

"So," Sebastian started as Del pondered Stephen's weirdness, "who found you first last night?"

Del laughed, "Oh you mean the game? Chris did. Though he hasn't asked for anything yet, I was probably a bit too hammered." Del blushed a little, "I uh, don't do things like that very often you know. I'm not a big drinker."

Sebastian chuckled as he took a sip of his own coffee, "I'm not worried about you being an alcoholic. Though I'm a bit hurt you don't remember who actually found you."

Del blinked, "Huh?"

The noises of the city filtered in and Del laughed, "Wait, _you_ found me?"

"You were leaned up against the side of a book store window. I saw you from my bike when I was headed home."

Del blushed a little, "Shit, I didn't puke on you did I?"

Laughing, he shook his head, "No, you didn't."

Del sighed in relief, "Thank god." She whispered.

"But I think I won the prize. Since I found you before Chris." Sebastian smiled as his eyebrows wiggled and Del suddenly felt the intensity she'd been feeling all day long.

"Uh, y-yeah." Del said, taking a sip of her coffee in an attempt to hide behind her cup. Sebastian chuckled at her shyness and it made Del blush.

"I'm not going to eat you Del."

Del turned redder and cleared her throat, "S-sorry, I don't know why I'm being so weird."

"So," she sat a little straighter, "what would you like?"

Sebastian grinned like he just won the lottery and Del chuckled, it was cute with a dash of devilish charm thrown in.

"How about a hug?"

"A hug?"

"Yep." He said seriously.

"What's the catch?" Del asked suspiciously.

He grinned and crossed his heart, holding up two fingers, "No catch. Scouts honor."

Del laughed, "Fine."

She went to stand, but Sebastian stayed seated. Confused, Del raised a brow at him as he grinned bigger.

"Oh I'm not cashing that in now, I'm going to cash it in later."

Del rolled her eyes and sat back down, "Well, I'll just have to amend the rules next time."

Sebastian laughed.

"And what are you two doing?" Said a familiar, sassy voice.

Del looked behind her and laughed, "Nothing much Queenie, find the place okay?"

Stephen eyed the two of them for a moment before smiling his best smile, something he only did when he was either nervous or upset. "Yep, just fine."

Swooping down, he grabbed Del's coffee and her bag in one smooth motion. With his other hand he grabbed her wrist and tugged her out of the chair. Del squealed in surprise as he all but pulled her away from the table and towards the sidewalk.

"Stephen!" Del shouted as he tugged her more, making her almost stumble as she laughed.

"Bye Sebastian!" Stephen called over his shoulder. Del looked back at Sebastian with a 'I'm sorry my friend is a tool' look, and he smiled giving her a little wave that seemed to say, 'it's fine'. Within seconds Sebastian was out of view and Del was in the passenger seat of Zach's car.

Stephen got in on the other side and started the car, without a word he pulled into traffic. Del was still chuckling at Stephen, thinking he was being his usual silly self, but when he gave her a sharp look she blinked.

"Just...what the fuck Delany?"


	17. Last Arguments

"Uh..." Del said, suddenly unsure about Stephen's sudden behavior.

"Delany, what the fuck are you doing?" Stephen asked again, this time his voice was sterner and Del felt her brain finally kick in.

"What do you mean, 'what the fuck am I doing?" Sounding irritated she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You know what I mean Del, if Chris would have saw that he would have been pissed off. Just what the hell were you doing hanging out with him anyway?"

"Hey, we were just hanging out. He called to check on Chris and I to make sure we got home okay. He's just a friend Stephen. Why are you acting like this?" The more she spoke the more pissed off she was getting.

Stephen huffed as they stopped at a light, "Del, you need to use your head. He's obviously into you—"

"Stephen—" Del scoffed.

"—obviously into you, if I can see it I know Chris can." He said interrupting her.

"That's not true! He's just a friend!" Del was fuming. He was practically implying that she was cheating on Chris for fuck sakes.

"You can say that because you're a ditz and don't know how guys think. Del, I'm not saying you can't be friends with him, but I'm saying you need to watch yourself. Chris and Sebastian are big time, sought after actors. Remember when you and Chris first hung out and snapped all those pictures? Imagine how Chris is going to feel seeing pictures of you and Sebastian getting all cozy."

Stephen softened his voice a little, attempting to regain his composure but Del was way passed pissed off.

"Look, I'm not doing anything wrong and how fucking dare you imply that I'm anything like my fucking ex, Stephen." She snapped, pointing her finger at him. "I know I need to be careful and it's not like I didn't tell Chris what I was doing or who I was going to hang out with. I don't tell you how to run your relationship, don't tell me how to run mine."

Stephen went to open his mouth, maybe to apologize or just piss her off more. Regardless, she didn't want to hear it and since they were still stopped at the light she took off her seat belt and opened her door.

"Del!" Stephen said, his voice hurt but she slammed the door as hard as she could to cut off his words. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she adjusted her glasses as she walked briskly away from the car. She refused to acknowledge the tears in her eyes as she made her way to the sidewalk, Stephen yelling after her.

* * *

Chris and Zach were sitting next to each other panting. They'd just finished the last scene, which was a long one consisting of green screen and wire work. It left both of them achy and sweaty, but at least they were done for the day.

"So, plans?" Chris asked, downing a few big gulps of water. The movie crew was shuffling around, getting things ready for the next day. Surprisingly, the noise granted some privacy.

"Well, Stephen and Del should be done. Want to meet up with them and grab some dinner?"

Chris shook his head, smiling, "Nah, not tonight. I think I'm going to cook for her. She loves food, but if you saw her fridge you'd wonder how she even lives on so little."

Zachary hummed softly as he nodded his head, "I remember those days. Though if it all works out, she won't have to worry about that anymore."

"What are you taking about?" Chris asked, it sounded like he was talking about something specific.

Zachary chuckled and patted his shoulder, "Nevermind, it's something Stephen is working on."

"That's oddly unspecific." Chris laughed and Zachary grinned.

A soft buzzing had Chris pulling out his cell phone from his tattered pants. He'd been waiting for Del to call him all day, he'd been missing her more intensely throughout the day.

However it wasn't Del calling him, but Stephen.

"That's weird." Chris said absently and Zachary glanced at his caller ID. Chris hit the answer button and the moment he brought the phone up to his ear he knew something had happened.

"Chris..." Stephen said shakily, it sounded like he was crying. The sounds of people talking in the background and someone on an overhead speaker, talking quickly.

"Stephen..." Chris's voice trying to stay steady, but it was clear it was failing. His stomach had dropped as he prepared himself for whatever he was going to say. Zachary leaned in, trying to catch part of the conversation as more background noise filtered through.

"Chris, D-del got hit by a car..."


	18. Head Trauma

"...Thanks Tom. I'm standing outside Southern California Hospital in downtown Hollywood where the girlfriend of famed actor, Chris Pine, is currently being treated for injuries from a hit and run driver."

The news woman held her position as the camera zoomed in behind her to get a shot of the hospital.

"It's currently unclear as to what her injuries are and we've been unable to reach anyone for comment. However, sources report that earlier she was seen with another famed actor, Sebastian Stan. Both were seen spending the day together in L.A.'s downtown area enjoying each others company."

Pictures of Del and Sebastian laughing and eating came on the screen, cycling through to another picture of them at a coffee shop and another of them at a book store."

"As you remember," the news woman continued, "several weeks ago it was confirmed that Chris Pine was dating a local coffee barista, Delany Morris, while shooting on location in Reno, Nevada. At this time, it is unclear as to her connection with Sebastian Stan. However, sources report that the two seemed very familiar with each other."

The screen shifted to a picture of Del in her Daily Grind red polo and apron, her face somewhat startled but attempting to smile.

"We'll have more as the story delvopes."

* * *

The phone rang in the back of the shop, drawing Peter's attention from his newspaper. It was just passed closing time and everything had been shut down and cleaned up. It actually felt good to run the shop for a little while, but he was secretly looking forward to Stephen and Del coming back. If only for a short while, before getting things rolling in California. He was really proud of both of them. They needed to move forward, like he needed to. Maybe this idea of Stephen's was what they all needed.

Stepping away from his paper, Peter walked back to the old rotary phone that was still ringing. Picking it up, he held it to his ear.

"The Daily Grind." He said gruffly, it was unusual for the shop to get phone calls after closing time. It was one of the reasons he liked to sit and read his paper after the shop closed. Before his Maggie died, he'd sit and read while she cleaned up. They were good times.

"Peter..."

The old army vet narrowed his eyes a little, Stephen sounded upset. Not his usual upset either. The last time he heard the boy sound like this was when Del's mother was killed by a drunk driver.

"What happened?"

Silence filtered through the phone, followed by Stephen half sobbing.

"Del was in a-an accident. A h-hit and...run." Stephen sobbed harder and Peter felt all those years of service kick in, turning his brain off to emotion so he could act.

"I'll be there soon."

Without waiting for an answer, Peter hung up the phone and walked out the back door. His cup of coffee growing cooler next to his newspaper.

* * *

Chris sat next to Del, his head in his hands and still dressed in his tattered suit he'd filmed in three days ago. He hadn't moved from the chair next to her hospital bed except to use the bathroom. He'd slept in the chair when exhaustion won out and ate whatever food anyone brought him.

They'd rushed to the hospital as fast as possible and Chris thought his heart would stop the moment they were allowed back to where Del was. Her beautiful face was bruised with little cuts all over. Tubes connected to IV drips in her arms and in her nose, with a neck brace keeping her head still. Surprisingly, she hadn't broken any bones, but they had had to drill into her skull to relieve the pressure on her brain.

She'd stabilized, but the doctors were unsure of when she'd wake up.

If ever.

The media had blown up, making everything worse and honestly he was passed the grieving point. Right now, he was so angry he could barely keep from breaking something. He didn't know who he hell could possibly hit a person in a car and keep going. Not even checking to see if she was okay.

If it wasn't for Stephen being there...

Chris squeezed his eyes shut, digging the palms of his hands into his eyes out of frustration and anger. If he ever found the person who did this, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to control himself.

Stephen had explained what had happened, through tears and sobs as Zachary tried to comfort him. Chris listened, but the words didn't really stick. He wasn't even mad at Stephen, he was thankful that someone had been there.

He just wished that it was him that had been there instead.

The door to the hospital room opened slowly with the sound of boots on tile coming closer. Chris looked up, his vision blurry from angry tears as he tried to focus. So far his family had stopped by, Zachary, Stephen and a handful of the movie crew. Del's room was packed full of flowers and cards wishing her a speedy recovery.

"Hello. I don't think we've met." Said an older, lean, tall man with heavy scruff on his fac. His silvered hair was short and cut military style. Grey eyes took in Chris in one quick glance before meeting his eyes again.

Chris blinked slowly, thinking maybe he was to the point where he was hallucinating.

"I'm Peter. The owner of The Daily Grind and Del's boss." Peter's voice was gruff and deep.

Chris stood, trying to gain his composure as he shook Peter's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Chris voice sounded strained as he tried to sound normal, it was a loosing battle though. Peter eyed him for a moment before looking over at Del's sleeping form. She'd woken up twice since the surgery, but it was never for very long and she wasn't very coherent. Shifting so Peter could walk to stand next to Del, Chris watched as the older man stood looking down on her.

Both men fell silent as they watched Del breathe deeply. Chris didn't know what to say and it was probably a good thing because Peter didn't look like he wanted to talk.

The door opened again and both men looked towards the sound. Sebastian slowly entered the room, he looked at Chris and then Peter, nodding to each of them. The moment his eyes saw Del, his face paled making him stagger mid step.

Chris stiffened as the look in Sebastian's eyes was filled with devastation and...love.

Before he could really think about what he was doing, he walked to Sebastian in a few quick long strides. Cocking his fist back, he swung at Sebastian with all the anger that had been bubbling up for the last few days. Sebastian didn't see it in time and took the punch right to his jaw, making him stumble back and fall against the wall.

"You son of a bitch!" Chris yelled, his anger making him blind as he went to grab Sebastian to hit him again. Sebastian attempted to shove Chris away from him, trying not to escalate the situation.

"Chris! I'm sorry! Calm—"

Chris swung again, missing and hitting the wall as Sebastian dodged it. Pain erupted in his hand as he heard Peter yell.

"Knock that shit off!"

Still raging Chris turned and tackled Sebastian hard through the open door and into the hospital hallway. Peter followed, attempting to pull Chris and Sebastian apart but both men were too focused on each other.

"Security!" One of the nurses yelled.

"It's your fault! She would have been fine if you just would have left her alone!" Chris yelled louder as he punched Sebastian. Sebastian's mouth sprayed blood and in the next instant he head butted Chris hard, breaking his nose.


	19. Focal Retrograde Amnesia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deep breath...

"...Thank you Marshall. We've recently learned that Chris Pine and Sebastian Stan are currently being questioned in a private room here at the L.A.P.D. Sources say that Pine became agitated when Stan came to visit coffee barista and girlfriend of Pine, Delany Morris..."

* * *

Peter let out an irritated sigh. Those two boys better get a handle on their shit before this little girl woke up or he'd kick both of their asses all the way to the Hollywood sign.

After security came and finally managed to separate the two idoits, Peter was questioned while they were cuffed and taken away. Personally, if another fight broke out he'd have to kick everyone's ass just to prove a point. Heaven forbid she woke up to another fist fight in her room.

He spoke to the officers and pulled out the legal piece of paperwork that he had signed as a favor to Del's mother, Nancy, before she died. It stated that in the event of her death that Peter and his wife Maggie would be the legal guardians for Del. Once he explained that Nancy was deceased and his wife too, it was clear they were done asking him questions. And even though he and his Maggie never had any kids of their own, Stephen and Del became their kids.

Even if only by circumstance.

Peter grumbled as he took a sip of cold, bitter hospital coffee. "Jesus, it's worse than Mississippi mud."

There were sadly only three people in his life that had been able to make him a cup of coffee that he could stand, and two of them were dead.

Glancing over, Peter watched Del sleep as he leaned back in his chair. Stephen had explained everything when he arrived, better than any scout he'd had the privilege of knowing in the service.

Now he was watching, for the third time, a girl...who he cared deeply about, fight for her life. If he wasn't such a hard ass, he probably would have cried. But he wasn't much for tears and he wasn't much for lingering on things he couldn't change. The only thing now, was to sit and wait.

It had been seven days since the phone call from Stephen. Five since the scuffle of two pretty boys. And a hour and a half since he forced himself to take the first sip of the horrible coffee currently in his hand.

The two pretty boys were all wrapped up in media and legal issues, so they hadn't come by to visit much. Except Chris, who was always there unless he had to go and then only after a petite woman with red hair and a nasty temper (someone from the studio he found out) showed up to drag him away. When he was gone sometimes Stephen's boyfriend Zach would come and sit. Stephen came when he mustered the courage, but he couldn't really blame the boy for not being able to handle Del and the state she was in.

Today he was alone, security outside the door because the media had gotten to be a really big pain in the ass. It wasn't even so much that they wanted a piece of Del, they want to interview Chris and Sebastian. Or anyone else willing to open their mangy mouths.

A soft groan yanked Peter out of his thoughts. Del's hand twitched as her eyes fluttered open briefly. This was something that happened periodically. Like she was trying to force herself to wake up.

However this time, Del finally managed a few long blinks as she squinted in the half darkened room. Ignoring the crap coffee, Peter set it down on the floor and came to Del's side. Del blinked a few more times and after a minute she finally focused on him.

Peter offered up a soft smile, one of his very few ones as Del began to move her lips.

"P...p—pe..ter." She mumbled, swallowing roughly. Peter grabbed the pitcher of water from the hospital stand and pored her a cup with a straw. Holding it up to her lips, Del winced as she took a few deep gulps of water.

Setting the cup down when she was done, Peter took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. It was a miracle that she hadn't broken any bones.

"Welcome back." He said.

Del stared at him for a moment and glanced around the room. Her neck was out of the neck brace now, but pain still etched her features as she moved.

"I take it...something bad happened?" Del's voice was soft, her eyes watering a little.

Peter nodded once, "I won't lie to you girl, you were hit by a car."

Del's green eyes widened, "A car?"

Del looked down at her body wrapped in warm blankets and then back up to him. "I...feel sore, but I feel...fine."

The question she didn't want to ask was in her eyes and Peter chuckled, "Well, you didn't break anything. But you've got a few new holes in your head where they drilled to relieve the pressure."

"P—pressure?" Del's bottom lip trembled as she tried to take it all in.

"You had some swelling."

Del bit her lip and nodded as tears fell down her cheeks, taking a shaky breath she let it out slowly.

"Did you call Tyler?" Del asked, not looking at Peter.

Silence fell as Peter mind stalled out. "You mean...?"

"My piece of shit, cheating boyfriend." Del tried to laugh at the stupidity of the statement, but a half sob came instead.

Peter felt his jaw tighten, something was wrong if she was talking about that piece of shit.

* * *

"It's called focal retrograde amnesia..." The doctor began.

Chris, his sister Katherine, Zachary, Stephen and Peter were standing outside of Del's room. She'd been moved out of the ICU and into a regular room now that she was awake and coherent...

Katherine was surprisingly the first one to speak, "She has amnesia?"

"Yes, a specific kind. This one is trauma related due to the accident."

"So she's lost her memory?" Zachary asked, his gaze shifting slightly towards Chris who was being extremely quiet.

"As far as we can tell, she's lost the last four months. Maybe more. It's hard to say at this point if her memory will return or not. The best that you can do now is be there for her. She's confused, angry and upset." The doctor continued, her hands making motions as she spoke.

"Is there any treatment?" Stephen asked, he was biting his thumb nail in between talking. He hadn't shaved in a week and his clothes were a bit messy, nothing like his usual pristine looking self. It was clear he was having a difficult time. Zach, who was standing next to him, squeezed his hand to let him know he was there.

"Well, try doing things that she is familiar with. Maybe getting back to work will help, or visiting places she has frequented. Friends and family are what she needs." The doctor smiled softly, trying her best to be comforting.

"But...what about Chris? She doesn't remember Chris? Or Zach?" Stephen's voice wavered on panic and the doctor tried to smooth him before he had a mental break down.

Chris wasn't looking at anyone, choosing instead to focus on a section of wall to his left. With the whirl wind of shit that had happened p, Del's amnesia seemed like the last fatal blow. If she didn't remember him...

Didn't remember 'them' as a couple...

The relationship was new, a little over a month at most and they hadn't spent a lot of time together. Maybe Del had been right when she said it wasn't going to work.

"Look, I won't lie to you," the doctors voice drifting briefly through the fog of his thoughts, "she may never remember any of the last four months. She may never remember meeting Mr. Pine or Mr. Quinto. But," the woman paused for a moment as she looked at the group as a whole, "if it were my husband, boyfriend, son or someone important to me...I'd try regardless. Go slow. She can't take too much at once. Right now, she knows she's in California on vacation. As suspicious as she is by that..." The doctor glanced at Peter who gave her no reaction.

"She'll need to check back with me in two weeks and we'll go from there. With memory, it can be a long recovery process."

Chris felt his jaw tighten. He loved Del. From the first time he met her at the coffee shop. He wasn't going to give up and act like nothing happened. Like 'they' didn't happen. She loved him too, she may have said it right before passing out, but she still said it. She had the words hovering over every sentence, every look in his direction.

It didn't matter if she didn't remember him. They'd start over. It didn't matter how long it took. He'd keep trying until it killed him.

Because he knew if roles were reversed...

She'd do the same...


	20. Dèjá Vu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I'm sorry this took so damn long to update, I got caught up in the realm of angels and Demons. But that story is finished now, and Del informed me that I needed to get off my ass.
> 
> So here we go!
> 
> Thank you all for being patient and hanging in through the rough times with this fic. 
> 
> Your continued support is greatly appreciated. ^_^

"Uh...what are we doing here again?" Del said, unable to hide the anxiety in her voice. She'd spent over a week in the hospital from a hit and run accident that she didn't remember. All of her doctors gave her a clean bill of health, except for the amnesia she had developed.

It was fucking weird...

Stephen and Peter had had a long talk with her about how they'd do all they could to help her remember, but they had to go slow and she had to go along with their half cooked plan—no matter how weird it was.

And this was a new level of fucking weird...

"We're working." Stephen said, his voice not as cheery as it usually was. He'd been off since Del woke up and it bothered her. She wasn't sure what she could say in order to be comforting though. She had no doubt it was scary, when her mom had been hit by a drunk driver he'd gone through something similar. Del decided to let him come around on his own. But if he was weird after another week she'd have to kick his Queenie ass so he'd stop walking on egg shells around her.

"Right. We're working...at a movie studio. You're sure you didn't commit us to some orgy or weird cult thing right?"

Stephen stiffened slightly at her words, and she frowned. "Did I say something wrong?" Damnit she was trying to be funny.

Stephen gave her a ghost of a smile, "Nah, it's just that you said something like that when I picked you up at the airport."

"Oh..." Now that she thought about it, she did feel a sense of dèjá vu as Stephen gave his name to the man at the gate. It felt like an almost memory, but the moment she tried to focus on it, it was gone.

They continued on in silence while Del tried to go with the flow. It was hard though, she had a lot of questions. Like, why Stephen was running around in a sports car? Why were they in L.A. in the first place? Somehow 'a vacation' just smelled like bullshit. She was feeling panicky and frustrated, why couldn't they just tell her what had happened? Why was everything a secret? Christ, was she in trouble with the cops or something? And why in god's name was her hair so short?!

While her mind worked in overdrive and she fiddled with the strap of her bag, Stephen drove down between large warehouse looking buildings. There was a massive amount of people moving around and walking to different areas with props, costumes and various other things. It wasn't long before Stephen pulled up next to a very large warehouse with 'B17' in big blue pant on the side of it and parked the car.

"So, we are working? Meaning we are what? Making coffee?" Del asked as she watched people filter in and out of the large open door. It reminded her of controlled chaos.

"Yep." Stephen said, trying to sound a little more upbeat. Work was something they could always do to take their minds off things that bothered them. Del actually was afraid to ever stop working at The Daily Grind because of that. When the world went to shit, work kept her sane - Stephen too.

Stephen turned off the car and stepped out, Del following him. She was glad that most of the little cuts and bruises on her face had healed. There were only a few areas that would take a little longer, but she no longer looked like some kind of horror movie victim. The California sun was warm and it felt good to be outside after being in the hospital. Stephen came around and smiled softly as he looked at her. Del smiled and looped her arm through his, pulling him close so she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"Hey," Del said softly, "I'm okay, you know. Really. I know I can't remember what has happened lately, but it's okay. I'm sure I'll rememeber evetually. And hey, if I don't we can still have a good laugh over me forgetting my break up with Dip-Shit."

Stephen smiled at her, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, "I know sweetie. I just... I just feel like your accident was my fault. I feel like I took away the best thing in your life and it's killing me a little."

Del frowned, "Stephen, you're the best thing in my life."

Stephen laughed softly, a tear rolling down his cheek. "Oh you ditz, you have no idea how wrong you are." He whispered and wrapped his lean arms around her, giving her a tight hug. Del hugged him back just as tightly, not sure what he was talking about, but it didn't matter. They'd get through this, they always did. Though this time, Del had a feeling she'd have to be Stepehen's support so he didn't relapse.

"Come on," Stephen said, stubbornly wiping away his tears and looking more composed, "let's get our asses in there."

Del chuckled, "Lead the way Queenie."

* * *

It was lunch time apparently and Del was scrambling to keep up with all the orders. Somehow, and she really didn't know how he had managed to get them work at a movie studio; she managed to not miss a beat. The little coffee counter where they were working was just a small version of their one back home. She didn't know why, but it felt good to move and mix coffees. She called out the names written on the cups and smiled as people came to grab their cups. It was weird, some of them seemed like they knew her and others looked really familar. One woman, who was rather petite with sandy blonde hair looked especially familar.

"Katie!" Del called out as the woman stepped forward. Del handed her the cup and she smiled, "Thanks Del."

"You're welcome." Del grinned and as soon as the woman walked away she blinked, slightly startled. She wasn't wearing a name tag, how did she know her name?

Del wasn't able to linger too long on the weirdness of it because more orders were coming in. It hadn't escaped her notice while she was working that Stephen finally seemed to be relaxing. He was slowly getting back to his happy, upbeat self and it eased something in Del's chest.

Finally the lunch rush ended and Del started her routine of cleaning up and wiping down the machine. Stephen was straightening up the counter area. It was kind of nice that there was no money exchanged for this. Stephen had explained earlier that the studio had paid for their services up front for the next few weeks. They were even allowed to put out a tip jar too, which was over flowing with money.

"Hey." Said a masculine voice that had Del jump slightly as she was focused on cleaning up a spill from earlier that had dried.

Looking up she saw two men, who looked extremely familiar. They were both tall, one with almost black hair and the other with dark brown hair. The one with the dark brown hair had a scruffy face with hints of grey giving him a rugged look. Not to mention his crystal blue eyes that seemed to freeze her to the spot. Damn he was good looking. What the hell was he doing talking to her?

"H-hi." Del said, cringing as her voice came out way too squeaky. The man with the almost black hair smiled at her, his dark eyes filled with a mix of relief and amusement.

"Hello Del." He said. The man standing next to him stood silently, a look that she didn't recognize on his face. He looked almost...sad.

"Uh..." Del said, blinking as the man said her name. Seriously, she wasn't wearing a name tag.

Stephen stepped out from behind the counter and walked to stand next to the attractive looking man with dark eyes. Del's mouth dropped open as she watched the man give Stephen a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Hey." Stephen said in greeting to him. Turning to her, he laughed a little as he slipped his hand around the man's waist.

"Del, this is Zachary. My boyfriend."

The way he said it told Del that this was information she should have known already. Trying to play it off, she smiled warmly and waved a little. The rag in her hand flopping a little as she did and throwing drops of water in her face. Embarrassed, Zachary chuckled as the man with blue eyes next to him finally smiled.

Jesus, of course she would embarrass herself in front of her best friend's man and a man who made her feel like a sack of wet noodles. God, could her face get any redder?

The rugged looking man chuckled and held out his hand, the sad look gone and replaced with amusement.

"My name is Chris." He said and Del took his hand carefully, giving it a steady shake. It wasn't one of her usual hand shakes, confident and sure, this one was shy and a little timid. Good lord, what the hell was wrong with her?

"Uh...my name is Del. It's nice to meet you." Her voice was soft as she spoke, the warmth of his hand around hers feeling so familiar that she found herself staring at their hands.

A faint feeling seemed to drift up out of no where and Del swallowed hard, her heart pounding in her chest. She was sure of it...

She knew him...


	21. The Friend, The Door & The Wet Dream

Del was laughing.

The kind of laughter that warmed her heart and tingled her skin. It was the kind of happy laughter she had heard her mother use whenever she was happy...

Legitimately happy...

She was laughing with someone, a faceless man with dark hair and a baseball cap. His voice was smooth and seemed to hit that tone that was sexy and made her stomach tighten. They were both laughing about a shooting game she had just beat him at. What in the world she was doing at an arcade she didn't know, but the dream was happy.

The dream shifted from the arcade to where she was suddenly standing in her shower. But it wasn't her shower, but her brain kept telling her it was even if she didn't recognize it. It was small and tilted, barely fitting the two of them as water covered their soapy bodies.

His hands were large, warm and confident. Like they knew every inch of her and yet, they lingered on her skin like they were feeling her for the first time. Lips caressed her bare shoulders and neck as she felt his excitement press firmly against her.

God she loved his hands on her. If anyone else were touching her like this, she might have felt it was possessive. However, for the first time in a long time, she felt safe. She felt loved, needed even.

She turned then, wanting to kiss him and not caring that she was making out with a faceless man with a semi bearded face. Del kissed him deeply, bringing a groan from him that excited her. It wasn't long before she was pressed up against she small shower wall, one leg held up by his hard muscled arm as he slowly slid into her wet folds.

Del moaned loudly as he pushed himself all the way in. It was slow in a torturous and 'oh, so good' way that had her lip trembling.

"Del..." The man said, her eyes searching his blank face. He slowly began thrusting in and out of her as she moaned with pleasure and half screams. He kissed her neck, thrusting harder as he moaned into the nape of her neck. His arms steadying her as she laced hers around his neck and shoulders.

"Oh god Del, I love you..."

Those words with her name seemed to spark something deep inside her and she could feel her climax rising closer. He thrusted harder as she dug her nails into his shoulders, making him groan loudly.

Del felt him come inside her, the feel of the sudden warmth bringing her as well. She wasn't able to say she loved him back, the words seemingly stuck in her throat as she came. Yet, she knew it hadn't bothered him. She knew that he knew, she already loved him. She was just scared...

But why?

As she looked at the faceless man, a pair of crystal blue eyes seemed to flash on his face for a moment, they looked so familiar it startled her into waking up.

"Jesus Christ..." She whispered, her hand on her chest. Her heart was practically pounding and it took a moment for her to stop panting. When she managed to get ahold of herself she laid back down, however the tightness in her lower abdomen had her sigh heavily. She could tell her panties were soaked...

She'd never had a 'wet' dream in her life...

Good lord, who the hell was that man in her dream?

* * *

Del stared at Stephen, "O-Kay... Let me just be sure I've got this straight."

She crossed her arms as she sat on her bed with Stephen sitting next to her. She was currently staying in a moderately priced hotel room at Peter's expense—which she tried to wiggle her way out of, but lost when Peter gave her his silent stare. That man scared the shit out of her sometimes. Stephen was staying with his boyfriend currently and had come over to inform her she'd been invited to dinner at Zachary's house...

Which brought them to their current conversation.

"So for the past month you've been dating and sleeping with a Hollywood A list actor, as well as your fan girl crush. You two met at a movie shoot outside our coffee shop and now we are going to have dinner at his house?" She wasn't sure if she should be excited, shocked or take the first flight out of this crazy ass town.

"Yep," Stephen said with a smile, "That about sums it up for now. I can't tell you anything else though." He winked at her and Del huffed, but smiled anyway.

The last week had been busy, mainly with working on the movie set fulfilling coffee orders. It made a weird kind of sense now that she recognized some of the people from the crew. They had after all, served them before. She still couldn't remember it, but the feeling was finally justified. Maybe if she kept digging she might get an honest to god memory back from the last four months.

She was scheduled to see the doctor for a follow up on Monday. Hopefully, she would say Del was making progress. She hoped anyway. In reality, she was extremely happy that Stephen had worked himself out of his funk over the last week. He had stopped acting like she was going to break every five minutes and was acting like his normal, flirty self.  
  
"Fine. I'll go. But this better not be one of those fancy parties where you have to dress formal." She threatened him with her finger and Stephen giggled.

"Like I'd want to see you waddle in heels all night, sweet cheeks."

Del groaned and shoved him, as usual he over reacted and plopped back on the bed as he let out a girly shriek. She laughed and hit him with a pillow as he was clearly mocking her surprised voice.

"Dick." She said.

Stephen grinned as he brought his hands behind his head, "Yes please!"

* * *

"Uhhh..." Del said as she stared out from the taxi window at a very large condo building with a door man and security cameras. There was no way in hell this was the right place. Fucking Christ, if Stephen gave her the wrong address she was going to kick his ass.

The cab driver glanced at her in the mirror, "$32.50." His voice was heavily accented and Del blinked at him for a moment. What he said finally registered and Del blushed as she dug into her bag to get her wallet. Pulling out the money, she put it in the little clear box in front of her, which he promptly tilted and took the money. He gave her another glance and Del hurried to get out of the cab.

She could have cursed herself for how stupid she was acting. Why was she feeling nervous? She didn't have a thing for Zachary Quinto. But she felt inadequate, an outcast in a sea of people who belonged. What the fuck was she doing in California anyway?

The door man watched her as she approached, giving her a quick once over before opening the door for her.

"Thank god..." She whispered as she passed him. She was half afraid that he'd frisk her or chase her out of the building. He chuckled lightly, clearly hearing her and her face burned so red so fast she was surprised her face hadn't melted off.

"O-oh s-sorry." She stuttered and quickly made her way to the elevators, which were weirdly behind another set of glass doors in its own section.

Del grabbed the handle and pulled, the door a lot harder to open than she thought it would be. The stupid 'easy open' arm on the door was a joke.

"Hey..." Said a masculine voice beside her as she yanked on the door with effort. The door choose that moment to suddenly 'easy open' right into a guy's face with a loud smack.

"Oh my god! I'm so, so sorry!" She said as the man groaned, covering his nose and face with his hands.

"Oh shit, shit! I'm so sorry! A-are you okay?! The d-door wouldn't open and I..." Horrified that she hit someone in the face with a door, she gently placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Here let me look. Are you bleeding?" Del's voice was way too high and panicked. She felt terrible, only she would clock a guy in the face with a door.

The man stood up straight finally, one hand on his nose to reveal a half smile. The tone of his amused, pain filled laugh had goosebumps rise instantly along her skin. Two crystal blue eyes looked at her, a little watery around their edges. Her mouth practically fell to the floor.

"Chris....?!"


	22. Make Up Pretzels

"W-w-what are you doing here?!" Del said, her hands up ready to burry her face in them. Good fucking God, she almost broke his nose!

"Well, I was hoping for dinner." He said, bringing his hand down and giving her a light chuckle. His nose was a little red, but it wasn't broken or bleeding.

"Oh that's...wait, dinner?" Del blinked at him for a moment. Damn he looked good. A simple t-shirt, jeans and a pair of slip on loafers. His hair was a bit messy and his rough looking face just seemed to hit a cord.

Crap on toast, she was acting like a horny high schooler.

"Yeah, I assume you're here for the same thing? Zachary said he was inviting you."

"Zachary—you know Zachary Quinto?" Del said a little louder than she intended and Chris laughed.

"Uh yeah, we've worked together on a few projects."

"You mean movies?" Del said, smirking at him and his more upper scale terminology. Definitely went to a top school...

Why did that seem familiar?

"Yes, movies. I'm an actor too." His face was smiling, but the edges of his eyes looked sad for a moment. It really bothered her, that sad look. It made her feel like she was the cause of it and she didn't know why.

Del rubbed her bare arms nervously, she felt weird all of a sudden. Her tank top felt like it was too hot and yet, her arms felt cold. Chris watched her for a moment and then gave her a gentle smile.

"Hey, I'm fine. Don't worry okay?" His voice was quiet, yet sure. Like he wanted to believe he would be fine, but he still wasn't. Del felt the urge to do something to make him feel better, after all she had hit him in the face with the door.

"Hey," she said suddenly, "you want to get out of here? No offense to Stephen and Zachary, but this place feels like a museum and I haven't even stepped foot in their front door yet."

Chris blinked at her in surprise.

"I mean, I did hit you in the face with a door. So I kind of owe you." She said nervously. Jesus, she never would be so bold to ask a hot guy out. Even if she wasn't really asking him out on a date, it kind of felt like it.

"We could grab some food from this food truck I saw a few blocks back." Del cursed silently to herself, she rattling off again because she was nervous. Chris smiled at her, his eyes light and amused, no sadness in sight.

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Del was still surprised every time she pulled out her phone that she even had one. She didn't remember having one for a long time because they were expensive and the only people she called where literally within walking distance. It was a fancy touch screen with Peter's, Stephen's and his boyfriend Zachary's numbers programmed into it. She had no idea how the hell she was affording it. But Peter refused to give her details, all he said was, was 'Here, use it.'

Quickly she tapped out a message to Stephen.

**Hey, I gonna need a rain check...**

Queen: **_Who the hell does a rain check on dinner five minutes before they're due to arrive?_**

**I'm sorry! I accidentally hit Zachary's friend Chris in the face with a door.**

Queenie: **_O_O_**

**I know, only me right? So, rain check? I'm going to go make it up to him.**

Queenie: **_Make it 'up' to him?_**

**Damnit, not everything is about sex Stephen.**

Queenie: **_Yes it is, you're just not doing it right. :-P_**

**I don't know what to say...**

Queenie: **_Ha! Fine, you can have your rain check but I want details in the morning._**

**Nothing's going to happen. :-P**

Queenie: **_I hope something does happen._**

**?**

Queenie: _**Be safe, Ditz.**_

**Love you.**

Queenie: **_XOXOX_**

* * *

Del moaned softly.

The hot, sweet, buttery goodness of her cinnamon and sugar pretzel was like an orgasm in her mouth. If anyone asked her who had the best pretzels, she would tell them 'Truck N' Stuff' was the place.

At first she hadn't wanted the pretzel because she wasn't sure if it would be weird to get one while out with a guy.

A hot guy.

A super, duper, drop dead, hot sexy guy...

Okay, she was getting off topic, it wasn't even completely her fault though. There was just something about him that just...

"Good pretzel?" Chris snickered as he took a bite of his own. Where her's was sweet, his was more savory, cheddar and bacon one. She didn't even know they had made those.

"Yes, very." She grinned, taking another large bite. She may have felt nervous, but she found her self at ease too. Like this moment was just one of many others she had. Ones she cherished.

They both grew silent as they ate on a near by picnic table, ignoring the proper seating and just sitting on the table with their feet on the seats. It was pretty casual and laid back, something that Del loved.

"So," trying to keep them from falling into a weird silence, "this is going to sound really stupid, but what movies have you been in? Anything I've seen?"

Chris almost choked on his pretzel and Del padded him on the back, "whoa, you may there?"

Chris nodded, and smiled, half laughing as he coughed, "Yeah, that just took me off guard a bit."

Del frowned, "Sorry, I'm not really good with pop culture stuff. Honestly, the only time I watch tv is when I go over to Stephen's and have a movie marathon."

"Oh?" Chris said, taking a drink of a bottle of water he'd gotten earlier that was sitting next to him.

"Yeah, my boyfr—I mean my EX-boyfriend, only ever watched sport shows or movies. I'm not really into those. I'm more of a science fiction or like musical watching type person. Oh! Or romantic comedies or even action movies."

"So pretty much anything that isn't sports related." Chris grinned and Del blushed hard.

"Sorry, yeah. I guess that would be easier to say." She bit her lip slightly and then took another hasty bite of her pretzel.

"I'm just teasing you." He winked at her and Del about choked on her own pretzel.

He didn't seem to notice though and shrugged, "Right now Zachary and I are working on a movie together, about two hit men who end up going after the same mark. They start out as enemies and end up learning they've been set up. It's pretty emotionally deep surprisingly."

"That's cool. Star Trek was like that for me. Stephen had this big idea to watch all the Star Trek movies from the original all the way up to the new ones with Zachary Quinto. He's a big fan of him." Del laughed, "It's weird that they are suddenly dating. Or maybe it's not so sudden..." She trailed off for a moment and then cleared her throat.

" _Anyway_ , Zachary is good looking but not my cup of coffee, if you know what I mean."

Chris chuckled and watched her as she took another bite of her pretzel, he'd finished his a little while ago. "So who is your 'cup of coffee' then?"

Del blinked and looked at him, "You mean from Star Trek? Probably the guy who plays the Captian. Kirk or something. He was a little cocky, a smart ass, hot and those eyes..." Del chuckled at herself and shook her head. Chris continued to watch her and she returned his gaze.

"Hey," she said suddenly serious, that feeling of 'knowing' him creeping up and latching onto her brain. "You kind of look like him, but with a-a-a..."

Del stuttered as her eyes grew wide, "Holy shit! You're him, that guy!"

Now that she thought about it, he looked exactly like him. Which was probably why she thought she knew him.

Chris smiled softly, the bit of sadness around his eyes back again, but he laughed to cover it up quickly.

"Yeah, I'm 'that guy'. Chris Pine."


	23. Star Struck Surprise

Even after Del's horrible blunder of finding out who Chris was, she found that he was easy to talk to. So easy in fact that she forgot she didn't really know him that well. She felt like she knew him for years though, which was...odd.

She thought he seemed familiar because he was a movie actor, but the more they talked, the more she got the feeling that she knew him on a personal level. She was missing four months of her life, and if Zachary and Stephen were dating she had probably met him before. Had they hung out? Were they friends? She was a little afraid to ask.

They walked around for a while, talking about various things. He was charming and had a sharp mind. He wasn't like her ex at all, which made her wish that she could date a guy like him. He was sweet and caring, speaking kindly of his sister and his nephew. Surprisingly, he was laid back and seemed rather humble when talking about his career. He was funny too, teasing her here and there about silly things that made her embarrassed. But it was all in a good way. She even laughed, probably harder than she'd laughed in a long time. It seemed to warm her soul and was the kind of laugh that she remembered her mom having...

Del stopped walking suddenly, causing Chris to stop as well just a few steps in front of her. He turned and looked at her, confusion on his face.

"Something wrong?"

Del frowned and rubbed her arms, nothing was really wrong. There was just this over whelming feeling like she was missing something important. Something that had to do with Chris.

"Yeah, I just... Can I ask you something? It might sound a bit weird..."

"Sure." He nodded and took the liberty of leaning up against the wall of a nearby building.

"Okay..." She took a deep breath, "So I'm sure Stephen or Zachary told you that I had an accident a few weeks go and I lost my memory. Well, just the last four months or so."

Chris's face was carefully blank as he nodded, not speaking.

"I just...it's weird. When I look at you I get this nagging feeling like I'm forgetting something important... Like I knew you, really knew you. We're we friends?"

Del bit her lip a little, unable to read his face. It was so carefully blank that it was a bit unnerving. His eyes had that same sadness and when he closed them for a moment a hint of emotional pain seemed to grace his features. A second later, he opened his eyes and offered her a gentle smile.

"Yes, we were friends. I don't want to give you to much information at once though. Didn't the doctor's say to go slow and not get too overwhelmed?" His voice sounded a bit dismissive and she blinked at him. Feeling a little irritated she stepped closer to him until she was standing right in front of him with her finger poking his chest.

It was a rather aggressive bold move for her, but she was tired of people acting like she was broken.

"Look, I'm not so much of a shattered mess that I need people to coddle me. I don't like the fact that I can't remember the last four months. Everyone is acting weird and I keep getting these feelings like I'm missing important things. Like with you, when I look at you I..."

Del stopped talking, the words caught in her throat with what she was about to say. Her hand trembled a little bit as her felt like her brain was straining against an invisible wall.

Chris took her hand carefully, startling her at how familiar his hands were. They were just like the ones she remembered from her dream. Del looked at him, their gazes locked and Del felt like her knees were going to give out.

A mix of emotion seemed to pass across his face and slowly he slipped his other hand around her waist to pull her closer to him. Pressed up against him, Del hesitated for a moment as she found herself wanting to kiss him. Chris seemed to understand and made the choice for her.

His lips were soft and the kiss was tentative. Waves of need, confusion and heartache seemed to wash over her and soon she found herself kissing him back. It shifted deeper and Del felt like she was chasing a forgotten memory.

His lips...

His hands...

The way his rough grey scruff tickled her chin...

* * *

"So, Delany, how are you?" Doctor Wolf asked as she tapped away on the keyboard in front of her.

Del sat on the lonely chair used for loved ones coming with the patients for support. Unfortunately, Stephen had plans with Zachary today and Peter had headed off back to Nevada, for some unknown reason. It seemed like everyone was living their lives while she felt stuck.

"Just Del is fine."

Doctor Wolf smiled at her and nodded as she crossed her legs, causing her white coat to shift a bit.

"Alright Del, tell me what's going on? How is your memory?"

"Uh, well..." Del said nervously, "I uh, kind of kissed Chris."

Christ this was awkward. Del fidgeted nervously, this was seriously like talking to her mother about sex.

"And?" Doctor Wolf prompted. Her calm brown eyes seemed to coax Del into talking.

It took about an hour, but she managed to explain (from one woman to another) her wet dream...or dreams that she kept having. How she recognized people at the movie studio, but didn't remember from where. And how she ended up kissing Chris pressed up against the side of a building, then promptly ran away due to her embarrassment and the waves of emotions she kept feeling. By the end of it, Del was sitting on her foot and chewing on her thumb nail.

"Well, despite everything it seems you're making some progress."

"How is making out with a guy I don't know, progress?" Del said, wide eyed.

Doctor Wolf laughed and shrugged, "Well, you keep having these feelings of affection—"

"Doc, no offense, but 'affection' doesn't seem the right word. I feel like I want to jump his bones." Del said, groaning as she rubbed her face. What a mess.

"Alright," she laughed again, "You want to 'jump his bones'. People who suffer from memory loss tend to feel overwhelmed by their bodies trying to remind them. Too often people tend to dismiss these feelings or let their minds control what to believe. In order to get your mind to remember you will have to work with your body. Maybe instead of running away from him, you could have stayed and seen how it turned out."

Del gave her a dubious look and the woman smiled, "I'm not saying sleep with him. But I am saying that you should try to work through why you feel a certain way instead of running away from it. Here..."

Doctor Wolf pulled a composition note book out from under her lap top she had been typing on and handed it to Del.

"Try writing down your feelings and the situations you find yourself in. They read it back to yourself, you may find hidden clues in there."

Del took the note book and sighed, "Doc, do you think I'll be able to remember the last four months?"

Doctor Wolf smiled, "I don't like the make promises I can't keep. But I will say you are responding better than I thought you would. Keep with it and I'll see you in another two weeks okay? Now, let's take out those sutures."

* * *

Chris was laying on his back on his couch, a cold cup of coffee next to him on the floor and his arm over his eyes.

He needed to get a grip.

He was pissed off, irritated, sad, and a whole mess of other things that he didn't even have a name for. He had hoped that when he kissed her she would remember him. After all, it was written all over her face that she did remember at least part of him. But when she ran away from him, he felt like they were back in Nevada when she hugged him and then left him standing in the middle of the arcade.

Stephen was right when he said he should get some chains and tie her up.

Chris laughed a little, albeit, bitterly. Despite his resolution to help her remember, he was finding it a lot harder than he originally planned. He didn't want to come right out and tell her they had been dating and were madly in love. He didn't want to scare her, or worse...reject him.

Which made him feel like the biggest asshole in the world.

It had been four days since he'd last seen her. The film schedule was hell and so he wasn't able to see her, even from a distance as her and Stephen served coffee to the crew and some of the cast.

On the plus side, he managed to settle things with Sebastian out of court and the media back lash had finally died down from it. Del was still blissfully unaware from what Zachary had told him, about what had went on. He still hadn't talked to Sebastian in person yet, but he wasn't really up to doing that any time soon.

Today was the rare day off from filming, as there was an issue with one of the scene the writers were trying to work out. His house was quiet...

Which was annoying...

His cell phone suddenly rang and vibrated on the coffee table. Reaching over, he picked it up and answered it, not taking a look at the screen. What did it matter? It wouldn't be Del, her new phone didn't have his number.

"Hello?" He said gruffly as he rubbed his eyes.

" _Uh...Hey_."

Chris blinked and stared at the ceiling, his heart pounding with hope.

"Del?"

" _Uh, yeah_." She laughed nervously, " _Hey I hope it's uh, okay that I called. I got your number from Stephen. I wanted to apologize for running away the other day after our...uh_."

Chris couldn't stop the smile that tugged at his mouth. Memory loss or not, she was cute as hell and still apologizing.

" _Uh, well, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me and I hope that I didn't make things weird_."

"No, no it's fine. I'm fine." He assured her, sitting up on his couch.

" _Okay_." She sounded relieved and slowly they drifted to silence.

After a moment Del broke it, " _Hey, would you mind if I came over_?"

Chris stared, not really sure what the right answer was. He did know that he wanted to see her though and that overwhelming feeling won out.

"Sure. I can come pick you up or—."

A loud knock sounded at his door as well as through the phone. Startled, Chris got up and walked to the door and opened it without hesitating.

Del stood on the front step with her phone to her ear and a grocery bag in her hand. Chris felt his heart almost stop as her green eyes locked onto his. When he couldn't seem to speak Del grinned at him.

"You look star struck."


	24. Pictured Memories

Del was relieved when Chris didn't tell her to leave. She had done a lot of thinking over the last few days about what Doctor Wolf had said. She'd written everything down that she could remember, her feelings, little bits of nagging from her subconscious. Anything she could think of. She read the pages over several times and finally decided to take some action.

Normally, she wasn't one to face things that bothered her. If she felt stressed out, nervous or embarrassed—she'd just run away from it so she wouldn't have to deal with it. Which also made her feel like a shitty human being and guilty for being such a wuss. After having it out with her brain on the matter, she mustered up enough courage to hit up Stephen for Chris's number and his address. It was no surprise to her that he had it. Stephen was big on contact information for future needs.

He even teased her a bit, which made her almost second guess herself. But he grinned at her and sent her on her way, letting her know that filming was canceled today according to Zachary.

The trip in the taxi had been a long one. She stopped a nearby corner store and grabbed a few things. She'd also brought the notebook with her so she could continue to write if something crept up from her brain or if she got a feeling. She had a real good idea that somehow, Chris was the key.

When he opened the door, he looked so stunned that she couldn't help but tease him a bit. He had actually turned a little red and it was the cutest damn thing she'd ever seen. Now she was currently moving about his kitchen making a fresh pot of coffee from coffee she had found, and roasting large marshmallows on a kabob stick for s'mores.

Chris stood next to her with this own kabob stick, roasting his marshmallow with hers on his large gas fire stove top.

"You know, I've lived here for two years now and I've never thought to make s'mores." Chris said as he turned the quickly browning puff.

"Really? This was one of my mom's favorite things to do. Coffee and s'mores." She smiled at the memory and took her marshmallow off the fire and quickly set it on the already pre-stacked graham cracker and chocolate. Grabbing the other graham cracker she quickly sandwiched it, causing warm gooey marshmallow to squeeze out the sides.

"Here, trade ya." Del handed him the fresh s'more as he passed her his kabob and quickly did the same with his marshmallow. Chris set it on the nearby plate with the others they had made and turned off the stove. Grinning, Del held up her fresh cup of coffee to him in a toast.

Chris chuckled and did the same, lightly bumping his mug against hers.

"Cheers!" She said as she took a bite of her s'more and then a quick swing of the black French roast coffee she'd made. Chris followed her lead and she watched as his eyes seemed to soften a bit, he seemed happier now. She didn't know why, but seeing him look so sad and hurt the other night before they kissed really bothered her.

"Wow," Chris said as he took another quick sip of his coffee, "who knew s'mores and coffee would become my new favorite thing."

Del grinned, "Right? My mom was a genius. She actually came up with this when the power went out in our apartment. Only the gas was working so we made s'mores and coffee in an old French press. It was fun and cheered me up. I think I was like ten at the time."

Chris smiled as he watched her taking another sip of his coffee. A comfortable silence drifted between them and Del tried to calm her heart that was suddenly trying to pound its way out of her chest. Looking around the kitchen, she spotted several black and white photos of scene areas around Hollywood. At least she thought they were, some of them were highly wooded areas.

"These are great, did you take these?" She asked, shifting to take a closer look at the picture of a waterfall.

"Yeah, I like cameras. Black and white mostly. I like how it seems to capture a moment, makes it look dramatic." Chris stood next to her and pointed to a few pictures.

"These were taken when I went on vacation with some friends in South America. This one here and here were taken right here in California."

"Nice." Del smiled and looked closer at the pictures, "Man, I wish I had that kind of talent. I've only ever been good at making coffee. My grades in school were always okay, never great. I had wanted to go to community college, but that was before mom died."

Del grew quiet and took another sip of her coffee, silently cursing her stupid mouth. She rambled when she was nervous, and while she felt comfortable around him, she felt nervous too.

"Would you mind if I took your picture?" Chris asked suddenly.

Del blinked at him, mug half way from her lips. "Me? Why?"

Chris grinned, "Why not? You came over to cheer me up right?"

Del laughed, "Well, I came over to apologize for being an idiot..."

"Alright then, I'll accept your apology in the form of pictures." He gave her a sexy look and Del burst out laughing, her face turning a little red.

"My god, does that line work on every girl?"

Chris looked mock surprised, "Whaaat? I'll have you know it only works on curvy brunettes with green eyes."

Del laughed at first and then realized he was talking about her. "Smooth, very smooth. But you'll have to do better than that."

God fucking God, was she flirting?! Why the hell was she flirting? She did not flirt... She was actually pretty terrible at it, but for some reason the easy playfulness came easy with Chris.

Chris smirked and set his mug down, "Challenge accepted."

Before she could say anything, he took her hand and pulled her towards his open office area. Del let out a surprised laugh as she almost spilled her coffee. His hand felt warm and comforting. But it was familiar too. Del felt a sharp pain in her chest, but it lasted only for a moment.

What was that?

* * *

Del had a blast with Chris. The two of them continued their talk from the other night and Chris took three rolls of pictures. Some where of her, others of him as he tried to teach her about cameras, a good chunk were of the surrounding foliage. She managed to sneak attack him with the camera and snap a picture of him making a funny face. Which sparked a very silly streak of goofy picture taking that somehow ended up with them in his bedroom and her dressed in one of his suit jackets.

Chris had a whole mess of clothes, which were casual but there was a lot of more expensive items in his closet too. She slipped on one of his black suit jackets and found a fedora that was still in a box. The jacket was way to long in the sleeves, but it wasn't too bad in the chest when she buttoned it up.

Posing in the door jam of the walk in closet, she squinted one eye and held up her fingers in a gun shape at Chris, who was at present sitting on the bed and surrounded by clothes they had both tried on. Who new dress up was still fun as an adult?

"Meh, see. Stick 'em up, see. Or I'll blast you one, see." Del said in her best mobster type voice.

Chris looked up from his camera and chuckled, taking a few quick pictures of her while she posed. After a few clicks, Del took off the fedora and tossed it at him. He dodged it and took a few more pictures of her until she came over and sat down on the bed next to him. Laying back on the messy bed, still in his over sized coat.

"Man, I'm exhausted." Del said as Chris smiled at her and fiddled with his camera some more.

"I bet, who knew I had so many damn clothes? I didn't even know I had a fedora in there." He said, setting the camera down and picking up the hat that had landed behind him.

Del sat up and grinned, "I found it in a box. If you don't wear the stuff you should donate it or something."

"That's not a bad idea." Chris said as she took the hat out of his hands at slipped it on his head. He actually looked really good in it. It made his already striking eyes stand out more.

Del found herself staring and quickly looked away, swallowing. There was that feeling again, it seemed to hit hard and when she really tried to pin it down she realized it wasn't just a sexual thing. She really liked Chris. It almost felt like she—

Chris slowly slid his hand over to hold hers, entwining their fingers together. Del was suddenly extremely nervous and tried her best not to look at him. Her stomach felt like it was in knots and when his other hand came up to caress her cheek and turn her gently towards him; she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

"C-Chris..." She said softly, his thumb gently gliding down her cheek.

"I'll stop if you want." His voice was soft, yet husky as he leaned closer.

Del couldn't seem to stop her eyes from closing as he kissed her. The barest touch of his lips on her sent tingles along her skin and something in her heart and brain clicked. She wanted this, practically needed it...

She needed him, desperately so. Whatever this feeling was it was real, it meant something and that meant that even though she couldn't remember; he meant something to her.

Del found herself reaching up to run her fingers through his hair, bringing him closer to her lips. The kiss turned deeper and in the next moment it turned from sweet and passionate to a needful, possessiveness that had her moaning loudly as his hand unbuttoned the jacket she was wearing. His hand quickly slid along the underside of her tank top to her bare skin causing her to nibble his bottom lip to make him groan in that delicious sexy tone.

Wait...how did she know he'd do that?


	25. Needing To Remember

Chris couldn't seem to stop himself. He missed Del terribly and not being able to touch her, to tell her that he loved her...was killing him. He didn't want to force her into doing anything she wasn't comfortable with, but when she let out a loud moan as he slid his hand down her side to squeeze her curvy ass...

Well he just couldn't stop.

Chris kissed her deeply, letting his tongue tease hers possessively. All those emotions that he had stuffed down about Sebastian, her amnesia and his love for her broke the surface of his control. It wasn't long before he had her out of his suit jacket, her top, her jeans and rubbing her swollen wet folds through her panties.

Her almost naked body flushed a deep pink with excitement as he teased one of her hard nipples with his teeth. Her fingers in his hair had him suck on the perky, hard little mound making her back arch and more sounds of pleasure escape her lips.

God he loved her.

Del gently brought his face up to hers, nibbling his bottom lip and making him groan with want. The bulge in his shorts was already too much and her teasing just made it worse. The ache throbbed almost painfully, begging for release. When her hands pulled off his shirt and caressed the hard muscle of his chest down to the button barely holding him at bay... He thought he come right there.

Her touch was soft, gentle, loving. As if her body remembered him clearly as her hands caressed the firmness straining against his shorts. She didn't hesitate to unsnap the button and in one easy motion, she tugged them down his hips and wrapped hand around his hard member.

Chris felt his body shutter as he moaned, falling back on the bed as she began to pump his shaft slowly. Teasing the tip of himself with her thumb where there was already pre-cum. Del kissed his neck, moving down his chest as he closed his eyes. Her lips felt like fire along his skin and when her full lips and warm mouth took him in, it was all he could do not the thrust upwards into her mouth.

Instead,me very carefully let hiss hand rest on her head, neither forcing or demanding, as she began to tease his shaft with her tongue and suck in long deep strokes. The sensation was almost overwhelming and Chris had to really focus to not come in her mouth. If she continued much longer though, he wouldn't be able to hold back.

Del pulled away from him as she kissed up his navel to his chest. Her fingers and hands caressing his skin as she went.

"Do you have a condom?" She said softly and Chris found himself looking at her green eyes. She seemed positive that this was what she wanted, but he had a wave of heartache that made him pause.

"Are you sure?" The question came out soft, but heavy and when she smiled gently and nodded. Chris cupped her face and kissed her deeply. She moaned into it, her body relaxing against his and Chris had to force himself to stop kissing her so he could grab a condom out of his bedside drawer.

Once he had it in his hand, Del took the small foiled packet from his hand and gently pushed him back. He could help but watch her hungrily as she tore the corner and then rolled the condom on his throbbing member. The coolness of it seemed to make his desire flare and the moment she had it on, he leaned up and started kissing her again.

She kissed him back deeply, pushing his hard shoulders back so he laid down on the bed. His mind didn't really register what she was doing until he felt her straddle him and the first feeling of warmth at his tip brought a growl from him. Sitting up, she guided him into her hot core and Chris echoed he moan.

God he missed her so much.

Loved her so much.

He prayed silently that she would remember him as she rolled her hips and he began to thrust upwards into her. He squeezed her bouncing breasts in his hands, wanting to touch her more. When it didn't seem to satisfy the urge he sat up, bring her legs around his hips. The position seemed to hit a sensitive spot for her and she let out a deep moan of pleasure that tickled his ear.

Wrapping his arms around her, he laid her back on the bed, careful to not separate them as he began to thrust into her wet, hot folds. Chris felt his brain seem to slip away and all that was left was the feeling of her.

His Del...

"Delany..." He said haughtily as he pumped harder into her. She arched her back for him as he buried his face in the nape of her neck. His moans slightly muffled as she laced her fingers in his hair.

Del wrapped her legs around his hips, urging him on. He was so close to release, but he wanted to feel her come for him. Even if this was the last time they would ever be like this together. He wanted her to give herself to him completely one last time.

Del half screamed as she came, her legs tightening around him and causing him to thrust harder as he felt her walls spasm around him. Even after he was spent, he continued to slowly thrust into her in an attempt to prolong the feeling of her wrapped around him.

When the high finally faded, Del let out a stuttering half sob which had Chris suddenly looking at her. She had tears in her eyes as she cupped his face in her hands. A sense of dread filled him as he looked at her.

Was this a mistake? Would she hate him now?

"C-Chris?" Her voice was shaky and Chris swallowed, the feeling of dread increasing.

"Del..." The apology already in his voice.

"I...remember...."


	26. Confessions of a Coffee Shop Barista

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for continuing to read this little sequel of Del and Chris. Hopefully I'll be updating Stephen's story soon too. 
> 
> All your comments, kudos, subscriptions and bookmarks are much appreciated. And if you liked this or didn't and are looking for something different, check out my other works.
> 
> Any feed back is great and helps me improve. Even if you hate it! Don't be shy.
> 
> Thank you for your support! ^_^

Del was standing outside on the back patio with a cup of coffee in her hands and wearing one of Chris's t-shirts and her panties. The back yard was picturesque with the pool and the trees, it was private and yet homey. The morning sun had just started to rise and though she couldn't see the streets, the sounds of the city were in full swing. The Hollywood hills were beautiful and Del couldn't help the small tear that seemed to escape the corner of her eye.

She remembered...

She remembered meeting Chris, remembered how he made her feel. She remembered why she was here and all of her anxieties that she had. She remembered laughing and playing Drive and Find with Stephen. She remembered spending time with Sebastian and the accident...

How she could forget anything was just... It hurt in a way. There was time lost and she couldn't get it back, but Chris was still here. She didn't know how it happened, but them being together had triggered something in her brain. The familiar sensation of them making love was so strong that her body almost hummed with the memory.

She loved him so much...it wasn't scary anymore. It was a relief. She was so thankful that Chris had been there for her. It must have been horrible for him dealing with her memory loss. She couldn't imagine how she would feel if he had forgotten her...

Del wiped her eyes and took a sip of her coffee, trying to gain some composure. Del stayed outside until she finished her cup of coffee. It was strange, loosing her memory was probably the best thing that happened to her in a way. She knew how she felt, what she wanted and how precious her time with Chris was to her.

Finishing her coffee, Del went back inside the house and set her mug down in the kitchen. Chris was still asleep, he was probably exhausted from the heavy film schedule and the relief that she finally had her memories back. They had talked a little yesterday, but they ended up just holding each other and making love for a good chunk of the night. Their bodies saying what words couldn't seem to accurately convey...

Del made her way back to the bedroom where Chris was asleep. His naked body barely covered by the sheet draped lowly around his hips. His broad muscular chest rose and fell slowly in a deep sleep. He was so beautiful...

Tip toeing next to the bed, Del slowly crawled in next to him. His mouth was slightly open, causing him to snore gently and Del smiled. It was cute to see such a handsome, rugged looking man so vulnerable.

Del gently kissed his bare chest over his heart, letting her hand caress his skin. Chris's breathing changed and he swallowed, opening his eyes to look at her.

"Hey handsome."

Chris smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her close and kiss her. Del chuckled into the kiss as she let her hand rub the scruff on his face. It felt so good to touch him again that she almost forgot why she had woken him up. After a moment she broke their kiss.

"You okay?" He asked, a touch of nervousness around his eyes. Del nodded and gave him a quick kiss before sitting up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just wanted to talk is all."

Chris reached over and laced their hands together, bringing her hand to his lips to kiss it.

"I'm all ears beautiful."

Del smiled gently, she may have decided to do this, but it was still hard in a way.

"I thought I was pregnant." Her words came out a lot softer than she meant, but Chris heard them just fine. Stilling a moment as he looked at her.

"From that one time, well the first time, in my apartment. I was scared that because we only started dating that you'd leave me. My mom was a single parent and it was really hard for her. I was pretty freaked out until I told Stephen and he made me make a pregnancy test."

Chris was watching Del closely, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb as he stayed silent. Del looked at their hands, and took a deep breath.

"I'm not pregnant. Which is good, I think it would be really hard for both of us. But I was...a little sad too. I..." Del swallowed a little, trying to be brave. "I want to be with you. I just love you so much that I just can't imagine my life without you in it."

Del realized she was rambling and blushed, man she was sounding stupid. Chris chuckled and brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss her knuckles.

"Are you proposing?"

Del blinked and stared wide eyed at him, her mouth hanging open. "No! I'm not proposing! I—"

Chris laughed and pulled her hand he was holding, causing her to fall into him so he could kiss her. It was a deep passionate kiss that curled her toes and made her lower abdomen tighten. It was over too quickly though.

Chris grinned up at her, his crystal blue eyes shinning, "Good. Because that's my job."

Del's mouth fell open again, her brain suddenly halting all thought as her skin sudden started to turn red. It was a deep blush that ghosted down her neck and she swore her whole body was the same shade.

"Wha—?" Del said, only to be interrupted by him again with another kiss. It was a very good possibility that he was teasing her.

Then again, it was another good possibility he was completely serious...

One thing was for sure, it didn't matter. She loved him.

"I love you." She whispered as she kissed him again. Chris cupped her face and smiled as he kissed her back.

"I love you too, Beautiful."


	27. French Toast Foreplay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I believe we are coming to the end of this little sequal. There's just a few more ends to tie up and then it will be complete!
> 
> Hopefully you enjoyed it! If you did or you didn't please leave a comment. I respond to every single one I get. 
> 
> Thank you guys again, you're the best!

Del spent a lot of time hanging out at Chris's house when she wasn't at the studio serving coffee to the cast and crew. Surprisingly, the little experiment had become a huge hit and other crew members from the other studio sets would drift by to grab coffee. It made for a very busy time when Stephen and her were there, but the extra cash she received from tips and her little scene in the movie was more money than Del could honestly say she ever had in her possession. The money aside, which on a certain level made Del feel guilty, she loved the regulars that she had grown the know over the last few weeks and from the shooting in Reno. They were like family now and Del genuinely liked every one of them. They were all good people.

Stephen was back to his normal self now and had cried more than Del could ever remember him crying when she told him she had her memory back. He had hugged her so hard, she was surprised she didn't have bruises. But she didn't care, she was glad she was alive and glad that everything had worked out okay. Stephen apologized again for making her so angry about Sebastian, who Del hadn't seen or heard from; but she told Stephen that it wasn't his fault. It wasn't. She was a idiot for getting out of the car in the middle of traffic. If the driver had hit her any harder, she probably would have died. Just like her mother. As it was she was okay and no one knew who had hit her still.

Del had also contacted Peter since he hadn't come back like he said he would. He was being more stony than normal and Del was worried her accident might have brought up bad memories for the man. After all, he was like family. Kind of the grandfather she never had or the father figure she needed during rough times. Peter had assured her that he'd be coming back after he saw to a few things. He was glad, or at least she thought he was, when she told him her memory was back. He was a rough man, and had been silent for a few minutes before finally saying, 'Good.'

That word held a lot of weight. So much so, that it made Del cry just a few tears. He really was a wonderful man.

Del had spent her time around Chris's house cleaning, which was silly. He was a pretty clean person by nature, but she didn't want to leave a mess when she left. She'd already spent way more time in California than she intended. Peter said that he took care of talking to her land lord and paying her rent. But the urge to go home was both strong and... Well, not so strong at the same time.

She missed home, but she knew she'd miss Chris more.

To make her time count, Del cooked dinner for Chris and would wait up for him to come home. She even surprised him one night with the lingerie set that Stephen had convinced her to buy. It was cute forest green lace bra and panty set that matched her eyes.

Needless to say, the spaghetti she made that night went cold by the time they got around to eating it. And they had made a complete mess of his living room with all the fore play... The damage included two broken lamps, couch cushions in complete disarray and the sad end of his tv remote.

It was safe to say that Del...

Didn't want to leave...

* * *

"Hey beautiful." Chris said as he walked into the kitchen to find Del making breakfast. She was wearing on of his shirts, which ended just before her cute butt. Her panties were clearly visible and though he had found it annoying when other women had worn his clothes; when she did he found that it was a turn on. Though, only if it was her.

Del turned and grinned at him, "Good Morning, I made French toast. You want some?"

"Sure." He gave her a sly smirk as he walked over to her. He was only wearing his boxers and as soon as she saw the sight of his bare chest, he knew he could have her for breakfast instead.

Del laughed and pointed the spatula she was using at his chest, making him stop his advance.

"Oh no you don't mister. Sex is not one of the basic food groups. We need to eat something before we die of malnutrition." She gave him a sassy look before flipping the French toast over and sending a wave of warm, cinnamon bread deliciousness into the air.

Chris pouted for a moment and as soon as her back was to him, he continued his advance until he slipped his arms under his shirt she was wearing. Making sure to go slow, he rest his chin on her shoulder as he hugged her from behind. She giggled as he lightly tickled her soft belly and traced lines on her hips.

"Stop that!" She squealed while laughing, quickly taking the French toast off the pan and putting it on plates before it burned.

"Hey, you started it by wearing that shirt." He grinned and Del huffed at him. Damn she was cute and when she was sassy...

Well, that was just a new level of sexy Chris hadn't known was possible.

"What's wrong with the shirt?" Del said as she looked at him confused.

Chris eyed her up and down, his hand on his chin in thought. "Everything. You should take it off."

Del blinked at him and then rolled her eyes, smiling. Pointing a butter knife at him, she shook her head.

"Nice try perv, but it won't work."

Chris faked mock surprise as he took the knife from her and started buttering the warm thick slices.

"Perv? I'll have you know I am no perv. I am an educated actor with many passions and deep, deep feelings."

Del smiled and kissed his cheek as she handed him the syrup, "So you're a high class perv."

"Yep, and don't you forget it." He grinned a toothy smile as he quickly slapped her ass, causing Del to jump and let out a girly sound. God, he loved the sounds she made.

All of them...

Their playful banter continued until she finally managed to wrangle him into sitting down at the breakfast table to eat. They chatted about all different topics from the weather to what Stephen and Zachary had secretly been up too. Over the last few days the two had been acted suspicious and Del thought that they might be getting married or something equally life changing.

Chris had managed to keep what they were really doing a secret, but it was getting harder to do. Del was relentless when she was on the trail of something. The woman should have been a detective. Or a cop.

Oooo....handcuffs.....

"Chris?"

Chris blinked as Del said his name and some how he managed to not look like he was thinking dirty thoughts with his mouth stuffed full of fluffy French toast. Sometimes being an actor worked in his favor.

"Yeah, sorry I was just thinking." He said after he swallowed. Del chuckled and shook her head.

"I was saying, I'm going to be going home soon. So is there anything you want to do before I go? Doctor Wolf said that after my appointment today she won't need to see me for another four months."

Chris felt his chest tighten a little. Truth be told, he really didn't want her to go back to Nevada. Not to be clingy, but the time she had been here; despite the amnesia and Sebastian going after her... He didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay with him. She could move in if she wanted, or find her own place. If she went for Stephen's plan there was a really good possibility that would happen.

He had had other girlfriends of course, some long term others short. But Del just seemed to click in his mind, body and soul. He really didn't want to loose this feeling. He also didn't want to scare her away either.

"...I also wanted to talk to Sebastian one more time before I left."

Del's words seemed to break through his thoughts and Chris found himself staring across the table at her. She was playing with a piece of her breakfast and it took Chris a moment to realize she looked sad. His anger had been quick and he had never been so thankful that his mouth and brain couldn't keep up with each other.

"Before my accident, Stephen was mad and we had an arguement. He said that I was being stupid and that Sebastian liked me. I... Well, it may sound shitty, but I really didn't think he'd be interested in me. Or you for that matter. I'm socially awkward and my relationship track record is shit." Del sighed and put her fork down as Chris continued to watch her, taking in her words.

"I'm sorry. About Sebastian. Nothing happened. From what I saw and googled, the media really blew that out of proportion. We really did just hang out as friends. Though we did flirt a little, it was harmless. I never intended to do anything with him or hurt you. Peter told me what happened at the hospital."

Chris set his fork down and reached across the table to hold Del's hand. He'd have to choose his words carefully, mostly because he didn't want to make an ass out of himself. Running his thumb across her hand, he gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm sorry. I know you didn't mean to do anything with him, you're not that kind of woman. And I won't lie, I was jealous. Sebastian got to me, probably not intentionally. But when he came to the hospital and he saw you... The look on his face..."

Chris squeezed Del's hand as she placed her other one on top of his. The warmth was reassuring and Chris found that his chest loosened a bit.

"I'm so sorry Chris." Her voice was so earnest and sincere, he smiled at her.

"It's not you're fault. We settled all the legal stuff out of court, but I still haven't talked to him either. I probably should. I don't care if your friends with him or anyone else. I just... I don't want to loose you Del."

Fuck, that wasn't what he really wanted to say. Now wasn't the right time though.

"You won't. I promise." Del smiled and brought his hand up to her full lips. She kissed his hand and Chris suddenly had the urge to wrap her body around him. Words of love just never seemed to accurately say what he wanted. But he could make love to her over and over again and get close.

Chris stood suddenly, pulling Del to her feet and towards him. She didn't faulted or hesitate when he kissed her, letting his hands cupped her round sweet face.

God those lips on his skin would be the death of him.

Del moaned as he let his hands glide down her back to squeeze her round ass peaking out of his shirt. Her curvy body seemed to press up against him and it wasn't long before he had her moaning loudly in pleasure...

On the breakfast table...

The smell of coffee, vanilla and the touch of French toast cinnamon teasing him as he burried his nose into her neck...

God he loved her...


	28. Moving On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, we've reached the end! I really hope you guys enjoyed those sequal and I hope it lives up to your expectations.
> 
> Thank you for reading, commenting, leaving Kudos, bookmarking and subscribing! 
> 
> And if you have the time, please check out my other works. 
> 
> Thanks again!

Del smiled at Chris as they waited for Sebastian to show up. Del had decided it would be best to have Sebastian come over to the house for lunch. It was an idea that Chris wasn't too excited about, but went along with after she pointed out that he had tried to beat him up in the hospital.

Guilt was a good motivator.

Del had fretted over what to make and finally decided to settle for grilled cheese sandwiches. They were simple and Stephen had often told her the simplest food was the best. He was right of course.

The door bell rang just as she finished pulling off the last sandwich from the flat grille she'd found.

"I got it." Chris called from the living room.

"Okay!" Del hollered back.

Looking over the plate piled high of the cheesy sandwiches she frowned.

"Man, I hope this isn't too juvenile." She said to herself, the distant sound of the front door opening drifting to her ears. "Well... I guess it's too late now." Del sighed, turned off the flat grille and grabbed the plate of sandwiches. Just as she set the plate down on the kitchen table, Chris came in with Sebastian trailing behind him.

"Hey." Sebastian said, looking a little uncomfortable.

Del smiled gently and walked over to the two and without hesitation, gave Sebastian a hug. He stiffened, keeping his arms up as he looked at Chris. Chris and Del both laughed at his reaction.

"It's okay Sebastian." Del said reassuringly as Chris patted him on the back.

"Uhh..." Sebastian said, blinking as Del pulled him towards the kitchen table to the stack of waiting sandwiches.

"Come on. Let's eat before they get cold."

* * *

The visit with Sebastian was a little rocky at first, but it wasn't long before they were all laughing. Chris and Sebastian shared stories from movies they shot and stupid moments they had while filming. It was pretty heartwarming for Del to watch the two men talk. They were pretty good friends and she was glad that things seemed easier between them now. The grilled cheese sandwiches were a big hit with both men.

When the conversation seemed to lull, Del spoke up.

"I wanted to thank you for visiting me in the hospital."

"And I'm sorry I... Well..." Chris said, rubbing his hand over his hair and making it stick up at odd angles.

Sebastian smiled and shook his head, "It's alright. You had every right to kick my ass. If I was in your shoes, I'd probably have kicked my ass too."

Chris smirked and nodded, "Yeah, thanks for that head butt by the way."

"Thanks for the sucker punch to the jaw." Sebastian laughed, followed by Chris. Del looked at both of them stunned.

"Wait, no one said anything about a head butt or a punch to the face!" Del said, mortified.

Chris smiled sheepishly and Sebastian grinned, "Sorry. It's a guy thing."

Del rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Yeah well, no more fighting. I'd hate to have to kick your asses myself."

Sebastian raised a brow and Chris grinned a big goofy smile, "Man, I'd pay money to see that."

"Are you kidding? She maybe tall but I'm as tall as you." Sebastian said as he took a bite out of another sandwich.

"Yeah well, my money is still on her." Chris winked at Del and she blushed slightly, not meaning too.

"Thanks." She said shyly.

Both men laughed and Del huffed, "Oh shut up."

The conversation shifted and the small group talked for another hour before Sebastian left. Del was feeling pretty good that they had all talked and everything was okay now. She really did appreciate Sebastian's concern and his visit to the hospital. She had walked him outside to his bike and saw him off. She even did something she never did, she faced her anxiety and told Sebastian that she was flattered that he liked her. But she was in love with Chris.

Sebastian took it in stride and gave her a friendly hug. He jokingly said that he had moved on already, though Del was sure there was a bit of hurt in his eyes. Not wanting to make it weird she simply smiled and joked that he was probably dating another petite blonde. They both laughed and after a short goodbye, he was gone.

"Well, now that we've got that all cleared up." Chris said as he opened the front door and came outside where Del was standing, watching Sebastian's bike disappear down the driveway.

"Yeah?" Del said, smiling at him.

"I've been ordered by Stephen to take you somewhere." He gave her a mischievous look and Del laughed as she walked over and slid her arm around his waist.

"Oh? A surprise huh? You know, with Stephen's surprises they always end up giving me a heart attack." Del said skeptically.

Chris laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, kissing her forehead. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, I've got a list of the top ten 'surprises' that have almost made me run screaming down the street." Del couldn't help but smile at his affection. Deep down, she was sad that her time was almost up on California. She had a flight out in a couple of days, despite Peter's assurances that he'd be coming back.

"Wow, a list? I wonder what number one is."

"Nope. That secret lies with me, but I will tell you that little scene in your movie that I was in happens to be towards the top."

Chris laughed and grinned, "Again, in my defense, it wasn't my idea. And neither is this surprise. This is all Stephen and Zachary's idea."

"Zach?" Del said, staring at him and groaning. "Oh man. I can practically feel the panic attack coming." She joked and Chris grinned.

"Well, can't be helped. I promised."

"Jesus, we've got to work on you making promises to my best friend. He'll run you ragged with those."

He grinned and hugged her tightly, "That's okay. I'll take it if it means you're mine."

Del blushed, completely lost for words. This man...

Fuck, why did she have to leave?

* * *

"Are you sure we are at the right place?" Del said as Chris parked the car on the side of the road. They had driven to downtown Hollywood, just a ways past the famous Chinese Theater. Sure enough, Zach's sports car was parked just a few cars in front of their's in front of a small row of shops.

"Yep." Chris said as he came around to the sidewalk where she was standing and looking at the open shops. There were some that sold clothes and another that was a book store. Del thought it looked familiar but her attention was drawn away from it as Chris took her hand and started leading her towards an empty shop nestled between the two stores.

"This?" Del said as Chris stopped in front of the door. The windows on the shop face and the door were covered over with black paper.

"Yep." Chris grinned and Del gave him a leveled look that made him laugh.

"Again, not my idea. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't into it."

"What idea?" Del asked suspiciously as he opened the door.

"Better let Stephen explain." Chris said as he pulled her into the darkened shop. It was so dark, Del felt blind the moment she walked in from the bright outside. Del tried to blink and adjust her eyes, but a second later the lights flicked on and Del was suddenly blinking from the sudden brightness.

"Surprise!" Said a chorus of people, startling Del.

Stephen laughed and Del finally got her eyes to adjust enough to see him, Zach and Peter standing just a few feet away next to a long counter. The shop was a lot bigger on the inside, filled with cozy tables and chairs. It was cute and homey, reminding her of their coffee shop back home.

"Uh, surprise?" Del said as she looked at Peter, who was standing behind the counter with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Yeah! What do you think?" Stephen grinned as he opened his arms and motioned to the shop in big exaggerated motions. It kind of looked like the male version of Vanna White and Del laughed.

"Uhhh.... Well it's nice. But I guess I don't get it." Del said, running her fingers nervously through her hair and looking at for Chris for help. He simply smiled and took her hand again, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"You're looking at the new Daily Grind Cafe!"

Del stared at Stephen for so long he actually put his arms down and started to pout.

There was a rush of questions quickly followed by a mix of emotions. Some good, some bad. Mostly shock and surprise. Did this mean that Peter was closing the shop? Were they fired? What the fuck?!

Peter spoke up, breaking the silence with his steady rough voice, "Let me explain."

Del looked at Peter as Chris squeezed her hand again. His hand was warm and steady and it eased something in her chest. Not trusting her voice, she nodded.

"Stephen came up with the idea of opening a shop here in California. And while I do love Nevada, I think we need to move on. We've all been stuck for many years. Never moving forward. You and Stephen need to move forward, and so do I. So I'm going to close the shop in Reno."

"But—" Del said, but Peter shook his head.

"I'd like for you and Stephen to be part owners of this new shop. Stephen's already agreed. Zachary and Chris have both offered to become investors."

Dels's mouth fell open as she looked at Stephen who was grinning from ear to ear. Part owner? He wanted them to own the shop together? Zach and Chris were willing to invest in a no name coffee shop? But that was crazy! That meant she'd have to move to California. That meant she could be closer to Chris. Be with Chris...

"Yes!" Del yelled not thinking past being with Chris, startling everyone and causing Zach and Stephen to laugh. Del blushed hard, her heart pounding.

"I-I mean, yes I'd love to!" Del said, her excitement getting the best of her and making her voice squeak. She looked at Chris who was grinning too and she hugged him suddenly.

"Well," Zachary said as Del kissed Chris and Peter chuckled, "that was easy."

"Right? Told you she wouldn't be able to resist." Stephen grinned and looked at Peter, "So when do we start?"

Peter took a sip of his coffee and glanced at his watch before looking at Del and Chris laughing together, "Oh well, whenever."

Stephen grinned a boyish smile and walked over to Zach, giving him a kiss. "I hope you're ready for a double shot of trouble."

Zach smirked and glanced at Chris who caught his eye and gave him a cheesy grin while hugging Del.

"I think we'll manage." Zach said.


End file.
